National Institute of Justice Launches Real-Time Forecasting Challenge

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ) today announced the rollout of NIJ's Real-Time Crime Forecasting Challenge. Part of the Challenge.gov initiative launched by the White House in 2010, today's Challenge seeks to harness advances in data science to address issues in crime and justice.

"Advances in data science are occurring in nearly every branch of science," said NIJ Director Dr. Nancy Rodriquez.  "Through this Challenge, we seek to engage data scientists across all disciplines to develop innovative methods to improve place-based crime forecasting." 

The goal of the Challenge is to develop algorithms that advance place-based crime forecasting through the use of data from one police jurisdiction.  In addition to harnessing the innovation of data scientists not traditionally engaged in addressing the challenges of crime and justice, this Challenge seeks to encourage a comprehensive comparative analysis of current "off-the-shelf" crime forecasting products used by many police departments.  To date, no such analysis has been completed.

This Challenge is based on the locations listed in calls-for-service (CFS) records provided by the Portland (OR) Police Bureau (PPB) for the period of March 1, 2012 through February 28, 2017. NIJ initially released data for the period of March 1, 2012 through July 31, 2016.  NIJ will release updated PPB's CFS data over the next six months. During the final week of the six-month period, contestants will submit forecasts of where the largest concentrations of crimes will occur within the PPB jurisdiction. The four crime categories are: all calls-for-service; burglary (residential and commercial); street crime; and motor vehicle theft. Contestants may submit forecasts for all or some of these categories. Crime forecasts can be submitted for each crime category for periods of one week, two weeks, one month, two months, and three months.

Any U.S. citizen aged 13 and over, and any U.S. based organization, is eligible to win prize money and participation is free.  Interested contestants may enter forecasts in one of the following categories: full-time student (high school or undergraduate); small team or small business (a team of 1 – 20 individuals or a small business with less than 21 employees); or large business. Challenge winners are competing for a total of $1.2 million in prizes and the chance to determine the future of data analytics in public safety. Up to 120 winners, apportioned among the three categories, will be selected.

The Challenge Submission Period ends on February 28th, 2017. Entries must be made through the Office of Justice Programs Grants Management System. For technical questions about the application process, first read How to Apply. If you still have questions, contact the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 1-800-851-3420 or email [email protected].                     

More information and to sign up to receive email notifications about the challenge is available at http://www.nij.gov/funding/Pages/fy16-crime-forecasting-challenge.aspx.  For general questions about the Challenge, e-mail NIJ at [email protected].

A webinar for interested applicants is located at https://ojp.webex.com/ojp/onstage/g.php?MTID=e0ac752b1291c17e21608b0d56b28d06d

About the Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
OJP, headed by Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist victims. OJP has six components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking.  More information about OJP can be found at www.ojp.gov.

SOURCE Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs

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