This issue of Geography and Public Safety discusses initial results of a new operational initiative that uses modern statistical analysis and geographic software to help law enforcement executives deploy resources effectively and efficiently.
The initiative, called Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS), was developed through a partnership between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice in the U.S. Department of Justice. It emphasizes using geographic mapping to locate crime and traffic crash hot spots and target these areas with highly visible traffic enforcement. DDACTS was created as a nationwide initiative to help local communities improve public safety by both reducing their crime rates and decreasing their traffic crashes. The initiative began in the summer of 2008 with seven demonstration sites, one each of which has used timely and accurate data to create localized policing strategies and tactics. (publisher abstract modified)