BALTIMORE — Reducing gun violence is one the goals of Baltimore’s Predictive Policing program.
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates will vote on funding the program for another year Monday.
Baltimore police are asking for more than a half-million dollars to continue support for a program to reduce gun violence. Police believe it gives them a crystal ball on crime and they want to continue to use it.
The program is designed to help stop crime before it happens. It uses a combination of closed-circuit TV cameras, data from past crime incidents, and license plate readers on squad cars to provide information to officers.
The contractor, Strategic Focus, provides daily, weekly and monthly crime briefings along with developing protocols and strategies for reducing crime.
Officers said its already made a dent in shootings and homicides since it was installed in the eastern and western districts last June.
Police are asking city officials to continue the contractor's work of providing technical assistance, training technology and research expertise to help its efforts to reduce gun violence.
The Predictive Policing program was created by a deputy chief in Los Angeles and built in Chicago before it hit the streets of Baltimore last summer.
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The Board of Estimates is set to vote on paying the strategic focus more than $635,000 for another year.
