"A log of all people killed by police in the US..."

"... detailing the individuals and reported circumstances. Data can be mapped and sorted by state, gender, ethnicity and other factors."

According to the latest FBI Crime statistics (budget year 2012-2013) the cops appear to be lagging way behind. During that time period there where 14,349 Murders and non-negligent manslaughter. Way more than the 976 the cops are said to have killed. (See linked to map above). Granted some of the killings by police (that resulted in conviction of police) may already be counted in the FBI Crime statistics. I say may because the data, if available, is probably buried and I don't have the patience nor the inclination to dig it out. Bottom line, these numbers, when compared to each other the way I do here, could be a little off. Just a tad.

"Miami wants to predict when and where crime will occur"

It sounds a little like something out of a science fiction novel, but the department is in the process of adopting a system called HunchLab that produces maps showing small areas where specific crimes are likely to be committed during shifts. The probability program is a geographical version of “predictive policing” software, which more departments are using — even if, in the words of one supportive cop, it’s “kind of scary.”

“It doesn’t replace actual police work,” said Lt. Sean MacDonald, who wrote the grant application. “It’s policing with smarter technology.” (read more)

 

Cold Weather Causes Higher Rate of Gun Homicides

The question of how temperature levels impact the urban homicide rate in major urban areas has vexed criminology researchers for decades. 

Part of the problem is that there is no effective model, no workable framework, that allows for a comparison of any two cities unbiased by culture and country.  Comparing gun homicides in Winnipeg with those in Wichita, to use two examples, isn't completely accurate because of cultural differences, but more so because of differences in laws between the two countries.

The identification of climatic opposites - cities with high and low average winter temperatures - is fairly simple.  Weather data is reliable and abundant.  And the methods of collecting temperature readings and then norming them into a seasonal average are consistent city-to-city, largely because of NOAA.

Recently criminal scientists have reached consensus that the populations of Houston and Chicago share so many common traits and are composed of nearly identical demographic and economic strata, that meaningful theories of behavior can be tested. 

The results of the studies are here (excerpted from a paper presented at a symposium in November):