Department of Pre-Crime: Santa Cruz Police Test Software That Predicts Where And When Criminals Will Strike

Hello 'Minority Report'

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Police in Santa Cruz are using a complicated math equation to predict where crimes will likely happen in an effort to better utilize their shrinking force stop the bad guys in their tracks.

"Crime is not random," said Zach Friend, the department's crime analyst. "You can actually predict the kinds of things that people will do."

The computer program utilizing this algorithm is at the center of a six-month effort called "predictive policing" that the department started in July. Eight years of crime data were first entered into the program so it could track and pinpoint crimes.

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[link to abcnews.go.com]