IU NORTHWEST, AREA POLICE DEPARTMENTS PARTNER TO CREATE UNPRECEDENTED DATA SHARING INITIATIVE

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Indiana University Northwest News

By sharing information, agencies can work together for public safety in a way that has never been done before

In 2012, Gary Police Chief Wade Ingram wanted to begin using crime data analysis to help identify patterns of activity in the city and tailor responses and deploy personnel accordingly. It was a practice he’d become accustomed to when he worked for the Chicago Police Department, but he didn’t have the technical skills or resources to begin the practice in Gary.

Indiana University Northwest’s Center for Urban and Regional Excellence, which works to engage the University and the community in partnerships that jointly formulate programs and policies to support thriving Northwest Indiana communities, identified the community’s need and engaged Ingram and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Joseph Ferrandino, PhD., in a discussion focused on collaboration.  Thus, a working relationship began that would soon change the way a growing number of law enforcement and first responders do their jobs in the entire region.