In the film Minority Report, a police department 'predicted' crimes - but they had the advantage of floatariums full of psychics who could see into the future.
The Santa Cruz police's 'predictive' software uses the rather more prosaic method of software running on an ordinary PC - software that takes notice of an unusual phenomenon.
In the same way that an earthquake causes 'aftershocks', crimes such as burglaries seem to trigger 'aftercrimes'. Mathematicians turned to earthquake-predicting equations to catch burglars in the act.
Department of Pre-Crime: But unlike in Tom Cruise's Minority Report, Santa Cruz police don't need psychics to predict crimes - they use software designed to predict earthquakes
Would be evil-doers can rest a little easier in their shoes, though - the software, designed by mathematician George Mohler at Santa Clara University, can't predict WHO will commit a crime.
Instead, it focuses on areas where crimes happen - looking for the predictable pattern of 'aftercrime' burglaries happening within 600 feet of the place a first crime.
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