Big data technology allows today’s businesses to gather data-based insights and make more informed decisions. For law enforcement agencies, data analytics can help officers lower crime rates and expand social services. Furthermore, big data brings distant communities together, giving municipal officials valuable information on successful protocols. Here are some ways big data can help improve law enforcement and governance.
Prevent fraudulent activities
Fraudulent transactions are costly for consumers and companies; for public officers, they are an unfortunate, common offense. The good news is that big data can help officials pinpoint suspicious activities before they occur. IBM, a leader of big data technologies, explains the how data analytics works to counter fraud: Advanced algorithms are used to characterize and identify risky actions based on past data. Once it spots a potentially fraudulent transaction, it will alert authorities to interrupt the activity, giving security teams ample time to conduct detailed analysis on the event. Finally, machine learning algorithms incorporate that data to enhance its fraud identification system for future frauds. IBM’s fraud detection technology helped a large global money-transfer company stop more than $37 million in fraud.
Similar algorithms and analytics can be applied to address cyber security as well. Experts at Teradata say security analytics is one of today’s most effective defenses against IT intrusions. Network admins have long utilized logging to detail security incidents. With cyber security analytics, they can more accurately analyze and correlate data of malicious behaviors. Coupling that with predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms further allows admins to address breaches ahead of time and strengthen their cyber infrastructure.
Expand social services
Another practical application of data science is social services – big data gives law enforcement agencies actionable information to improve programs like humanitarian works and employment training. City officials can use data analytics to assist a disaster-prone neighborhood, for instance.
Cloud to Street is a big data company that designs analytics solutions to minimize flood damage. Led by data scientists and community workers, the company collaborates with governments and non-profit’s to identify tens and thousands of homes that might be affected by a flood event. Without big data, these homes would be left out of flood maps and, consequently, relief assistance.
“[Conventional] predictions show they shouldn’t have been in the [flood-]affected zone,” explained Bessie Schwarz, co-founder of Cloud to Street. Her firm’s big data solution combines satellite imagery, cellular data, and machine learning hydrology to map floodplains and identify disaster-prone regions and vulnerable populations with high precision. Not only does this help prepare communities for fast response, it also allows Bessie’s team to prioritize resources for aid; where thousands of flood-inflicted homes were once without aid, big data can now help municipal officials distribute relief funds and resources more efficiently. Cloud to Street’s next goal is to simulate data models to combat climate change–a global project that will likely involve multiple law enforcement communities.
Data analytics can also be used to lower unemployment rates and increase community wellness. For example, agencies can use big data applications built on OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) to simulate models of regions where more job training programs would benefit its citizens. Officials can act on that data by allocating job resources to those communities to prevent law offenses and increase living standards. Such usage of big data analytics can improve social services and community management.
Improve global governance
Global communities share common problems – economy, climate change, water shortage, human rights, health hazards. Data science isn’t just a tool for advanced computing but also a platform to help communities learn, emulate, and grow. For law enforcement agencies, big data gives authorities unprecedented tools to cross-share intricate yet valuable information on past protocols to develop efficient resolutions. Regarding the evolving role of big data for big decisions, Professor Xue Li at the University of Queensland in Australia sees this: Big data helps us connect-the-dots’ and derive a global picture of situations; become aware of things we don’t know; and deliver precise information to the right people so they can make well-informed decisions.
However, experts also emphasize that data analytics like machine learning and predictive analytics are meant to serve as an advice, not verdict. This is especially true as big data is being applied to court rooms. Law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa at Cornell University emphasizes the importance of human judgement in data science. It can’t be a technological solution alone, she said in a recent news report. It all goes back to having an element of human discretion and not thinking that all tough questions can be answered by technology.
Still, when applied responsibly, big data and advanced analytics can lead to more efficient law enforcement operations, giving officials the capability to elevate community wellness and global societies at large.
