Woodland Police Enlist Predictive Policing To Find Where Criminals Likely Will Strike Next

WOODLAND (CBS13) — Woodland Police are enlisting a new tool called Predictive Policing to help fight crime.

"We're trying to use the latest technology to complement our traditional enforcement strategies," said Woodland Police Sgt. Aaron Delao.

The system is the latest tool to give police officers a chance to fight crime before it happens by analyzing previous trends to see where new crimes are likely.

It doesn't give them the exact hour or street, but it gets them closer than before.

"During these times where we have less officers, less funding to throw at enforcement strategies, we need to use what money we do have more wisely," Delao said.

They say it doesn't profile who is behind the crime, it only gives data to lead officers to the troubled spots on particular days for specific crimes.

After a recent home burglary in a Woodland neighborhood, people here are hopeful this will give officers the chance to catch bad guys in the act.

"I think it's good that they are doing that, if it can predict crime," said resident Dirk Prado."It's difficult to do, but it seems like you're using statistical information, so there may be more validity to it."

The cost of the program is about $25,000. The money came through realignment, and Woodland Police feel this will make a difference in how they combat crime.