Chattanooga police hire three new predictive crime analysts

Chattanooga police tile
Chattanooga police tile
photo Police chief Fred Fletcher talks Wednesday, May 6, 2015, about theft prevention at police headquarters in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Chattanooga police Chief Fred Fletcher has hired three new civilian crime analysts, police announced today.

That brings the total number of people in the crime analysis unit up from one to four, according to police. The increased manpower is part Fletcher's effort to ramp up the police department's focus on quantitative data and what he calls 'intelligence-led policing.'

The unit will crunch all sorts of crime data, looking for geographic and statistical patterns that can help police either prevent crime or be immediately available to stop crime if it does occur.

"Predictive analytics will allow us to better anticipate where individuals may be most at risk of being victims and to identify patterns," Fletcher said in a release. "This increased information will allow us to use finite resources to problem solve in the most effective manner possible."

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