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Information Builders Business Intelligence Technology Aids Houston Police in Fight Against Crime
Arms Officers With Detailed Information on Crime Scenes and Tracks Crime Patterns
| Source: Information Builders
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - February 21, 2008) - In a press conference yesterday, the City of
Houston Police Department announced the launch of its new high-tech Crime
Center and Law Enforcement Application to help predict crime activities and
provide key information to officers responding to calls. Information
Builders, the independent leader in production business intelligence (BI) systems,
provided the technology behind its new Law Enforcement Application.
The Crime Center's team uses WebFOCUS, Information Builders BI solution,
along with integration
technology from iWay Software as well as a dynamic geographic information
system mapping tool from ESRI to enable predictive analysis of crime
activity in the city. The crime analysts drill down through the city's
crime data to identify trends which allow the department to reassign
officers to hotspot areas to reduce future crime activity. The data
analyzed is anywhere from 30 seconds to six hours old.
The BI technology also allows the analysts to provide responding officers
with important details such as the history of criminal activity at a
particular address and surrounding areas and background information on the
residents of the addresses to which they are called. The system also
directs officers to people at the scene with first-hand knowledge about
alleged crimes.
"Thanks to business intelligence technology from Information Builders, our
officers now have much more knowledge about a particular crime or incident
than they ever had before," said Houston police chief Harold Hurtt. "It is
our hope that this technology will lead to quicker arrests and speed the
time and improve the efficacy of criminal investigations."
Despite its deep roots in enterprise applications, Information Builders BI
technology has also become a well-regarded informational resource in the
public center, particularly as a crime fighting tool. The City of Richmond
Police Department in Virginia is using a similar BI solution. And many
state agencies like Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, and Mississippi use BI
to track and prevent fraud.
"With each successful deployment of WebFOCUS by a government agency, we are
seeing that BI technology is not something that is relegated to the
corporate domain anymore," said Gerald Cohen, CEO of Information Builders.
"Houston's deployment of crime fighting technology continues the trend of
the public sector realizing real benefits with business intelligence."
About the City of Houston Police Department
The mission of the Houston Police Department is to enhance the quality of
life in the City of Houston by working cooperatively with the public and
within the framework of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the laws, preserve
the peace, reduce fear and provide for a safe environment. Established in
1841, the department currently has 4,880 sworn in officers patrolling 13
districts. The Crime Center will analyze and disseminate real-time crime
information that will enhance field personnel's ability to solve violent
crime. For more information: http://www.houstontx.gov/police/.
About Information Builders
Information Builders award-winning combination of business intelligence and
enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to
more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world's
most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the
security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global
extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical,
and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users.
Information Builders iWay Software suite provides state-of-the-art,
multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data, and information management
requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading
software platform providers. Together, these products give Information
Builders customers the ability to live up to the company motto: "Your
Business. No Barriers."
Information Builders award-winning technology has successfully provided
quality software and superior services to more than 12,000 customers,
including most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies.
Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company
employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business partners. For more
information visit http://www.informationbuilders.com.