Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety

Schenectady’s Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety Program combines location-based data on crime and traffic crashes to establish effective and efficient methods for deploying resources.

• Agency: Schenectady Police Department
   
• Location: Schenectady, NY
   
• Department size: Large (>50 officers)
   
• Program started April 2012
   
• Active

Schenectady Police Department aims to reduce violence stemming from gun-related crime, including shootings, assaults, robberies, and drug dealing, as well as traffic crashes, which tie up resources and disrupt the flow of transportation. The department collects data on these sought a way to leverage that information to reduce these crime problems. This information also improves the department’s ability to identify emerging problems, measure operational performance, and deploy resources based on real-time data and community needs.

Program Description

Schenectady’s Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) Program, based on the national model, integrates location-based data on crime, traffic crashes, traffic enforcement activity, and calls for service to support the effective and efficient deployment of law enforcement resources. Collecting accurate, timely, and actionable information remains fundamental to the model. The department utilizes computer-aided dispatch, records management systems, traffic crash data, and other operational data sources to collect and analyze information related to shooting incidents, assaults, robberies, drug offenses, traffic crashes, calls for service, and other public safety concerns. By examining the location, date, time, and nature of these incidents, the department identifies patterns and trends that support both strategic planning and day-to-day operational decision-making. The department utilizes Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, crime analysis techniques, and interactive analytical dashboards to identify and monitor locations where crime, crashes, calls for service, and other public safety concerns occur at disproportionately high levels. These analyses help identify emerging problem areas, measure trends over time, and support data-informed deployment strategies. Patrol officers increase visibility and proactive engagement within identified locations through directed patrol, traffic enforcement, field interviews, and problem-solving initiatives. These efforts support crime reduction, improve traffic safety, generate investigative leads, enhance intelligence gathering, and strengthen partnerships with residents, businesses, and community stakeholders.

A key component of the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety Program is developing partnerships and coordinating resources to support public safety objectives. The Schenectady County Probation Department conducts targeted home visits within identified locations. The New York State Police provide additional resources to enhance visibility and enforcement efforts. The Schenectady County District Attorney's Office assists in identifying offenders who commit crimes within targeted areas and incorporates that information into prosecution strategies. The City's Engineering, Planning, and other municipal departments assist with identifying environmental conditions that may contribute to crime, disorder, and traffic safety concerns, including inadequate lighting, pedestrian safety issues, vacant properties, and other quality-of-life conditions. These partnerships allow the department to address not only criminal activity, but also the underlying factors that contribute to public safety concerns within targeted locations.

The department compiles quarterly reports detailing crime trends, traffic safety indicators, calls for service, and hot spot activity by utilizing maps, temporal analysis, and other analytical products. These reports are shared within the department and among partner agencies to inform enforcement strategies, guide resource deployment, and evaluate outcomes. While quarterly reporting remains an important component of the program, the department also utilizes ongoing analytical reviews and interactive dashboards to monitor emerging trends, identify problem locations, and support timely operational decision-making. Information is routinely shared with community stakeholders through meetings, presentations, and collaborative problem-solving initiatives, helping to promote transparency, accountability, and community engagement.

Funding

The program is supported in part by funding provided through the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, which is administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Program Reviews or Evaluations

The Schenectady Police Department continues to evaluate the effectiveness of its Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety Program through ongoing crime analysis, hot spot monitoring, operational reviews, and performance measurement activities. Department analysts routinely examine trends in crime, calls for service, traffic crashes, enforcement activity, and other public safety indicators to identify emerging issues and assess the effectiveness of deployment strategies.

The program has evolved to incorporate continuous monitoring through GIS analysis, analytical dashboards, recurring command staff reviews, and problem-oriented policing initiatives. This approach allows the department to make timely adjustments to enforcement strategies, resource deployment, and collaborative interventions based on current conditions and emerging trends.

Program outcomes are assessed through a combination of hot spot analysis, crime trend reviews, traffic safety metrics, calls for service patterns, and project-specific evaluations. These measures help determine whether interventions are producing the intended outcomes and support ongoing refinement of the department's data-driven public safety strategies.

Recent applications of the program's analytical framework have supported gun violence reduction initiatives, nuisance abatement projects, traffic safety analysis, and environmental problem-solving efforts throughout the City of Schenectady.
 

Supportive Research

Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety is a law enforcement operational model developed by a partnership among the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

The model uses a “hot spot" policing principles and data-driven decision-making to identify locations where crime and traffic safety concerns overlap and to guide the strategic deployment of resources. Research has consistently demonstrated that focused interventions within identified hot spot locations can reduce crime and improve public safety outcomes when supported by accurate data, targeted enforcement, community partnerships, and ongoing performance assessment.

Critical Success Factors

Successful implementation of the Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety Program requires strong support from agency leadership and a commitment to data-informed decision-making at all levels of the organization. Buy-in from command staff, supervisors, analysts, and patrol personnel is essential to ensuring that data are effectively translated into operational strategies and measurable outcomes.

Equally important are reliable data collection practices, analytical capacity, and the ability to transform information into actionable intelligence. Geographic analysis, performance monitoring, and recurring operational reviews help identify emerging issues, evaluate interventions, and guide resource deployment. The program is most effective when law enforcement agencies work collaboratively with community stakeholders and partner organizations to address both criminal activity and the underlying conditions that contribute to public safety concerns.

Lessons Learned

• The earliest lesson learned was the importance of maintaining a manageable number of targeted locations. Initial implementation efforts focused on four locations simultaneously; however, after approximately one year, the department determined that concentrating resources on two to three locations at a time produced greater impact and more sustainable outcomes.
   
• Successful data-driven policing extends beyond identifying crime hot spots. Long-term success requires continuous monitoring, regular evaluation, community engagement, and collaboration with partner agencies. Many public safety challenges are influenced by environmental, social, and quality-of-life factors that require coordinated responses beyond traditional enforcement strategies.
   
• Providing decision-makers with timely, accessible information through maps, analytical products, and performance monitoring tools improves situational awareness and supports more effective deployment of resources. Data are most valuable when they are routinely reviewed, shared, and used to inform action.

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Published: 12/2017
 

Last updated: 07/2026