Beginning in the mid-1990′s, the New York Police Department, under William Bratton, Jack Maple and John Timoney, created a system that became known as CompStat, short for ‘computer statistics’. Under this program, precinct commanders met on a regular basis with the NYPD executive team to review statistics and conditions in their precincts. Despite the name, in some sense, CompStat had nothing to do with computing. It was an organizational management tool for law enforcement agencies. The key innovations were measurement of results, regular review, and relentless follow-up. All of these activities were directed at performance and accountability with lower levels of crime being the key performance metrics. But computing, and GIS in particular, played an important role. GIS software had become sufficiently inexpensive and easy to use that it could be run on desktop PC’s. Maps and stats became the mechanism by which the results would both be measured and reviewed. CompStat would become inextricably associated with mapping and GIS.

The results were spectacular. Over the course of several years, New York City saw dramatic drops in crime. Obviously, this could not all be attributed to CompStat – there were many factors – but the idea was conceptually simple and clearly brought results, setting the stage for its replication in other parts of the country. When Bratton, Maple, and Timoney left the NYPD, they took the program to Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, and it was quickly picked up by other cities. Baltimore took the process one step further, extending the performance management concept to all municipal agencies to create CitiStat. Similar programs now exist in Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, and dozens of other cities. In 2006 Washington DC added an important innovation: live data feeds for much of its operations. Why was this important? Good government is frequently related to the degree of transparency provided to the public. DC took a huge leap toward greater transparency by making its actual operational information freely available to all.

Philadelphia’s new Mayor, Michael Nutter, made implementation of a CitiStat program a key part of his election campaign and began implementing the concept within weeks of taking office. PhillyStat was launched in March.

Why does Azavea care? Well, there’s obviously the abstract sense that our tax dollars are being more effectively spent and that these efforts may eventually result in better city services. But what really gets us jazzed is the central role that GIS and statistics play in the process. The meetings are open to the public, and having now attended a couple of the PhillyStat meetings, I am amazed by the range of maps and data being used to more effectively communicate and collaborate. People are not just making maps of crime, but using aggregated maps of deeds and mortgages to examine the impact of foreclosures, examining the changing geographic patterns real estate tax to understand how the real estate market is changing in each neighborhood. Having just rolled out the new public crime mapping application in Philadelphia, I’m also looking forward to seeing the PhillyStat data made available to the public.