George Mohler
Associate ProfessorComputer and Information Science
Institute for Mathematical Modeling and Computational Science
ude[dot]iupui[at]relhomg
The Indianapolis Harmspot Policing Experiment
Communities are adversely affected by social harm events such as crime, traffic crashes, medical emergencies, and drug usages. In this project we developed algorithms and software systems for the collection, analysis, and dynamic prediction of social harm events to facilitate appropriate policing interventions to improve the quality of life in communities. This is a NSF smart and connected communities funded project in collaboration with faculty from CS and SPEA. In phase one of the project we developed statistical models of social harm risk that integrate heterogeneous data sources. These models improve upon existing social harm indices used in criminal justice research and one of our models tied for first in the 2017 National Institute of Justice crime forecasting competition. In the second phase of the project we built a software web application for the Indianapolis Police Department so that officers can have access to real-time social harm risk forecasts to make better decisions on where to prevent traffic crashes, conduct foot patrols, distribute treatment information in drug overdose hotspots, and engage the community. In phase 3 we conducted a randomized controlled trial of the system with IMPD, which completed in September 2019.