Big Data Analysis for Chicago Police Department using IBM Watson Analytics

This project uses IBM Watson Analytics software to record and analyze crime cases reported by citizens to the Chicago Police Department. The analyzed information is presented visually, making it easy to draw conclusions. The project highlights the importance of information in planning actions to reduce crime and improve law enforcement strategies. The report also includes recommendations for improving security in Chicago.

Running head: BIG DATA ANALYSIS 1
Big data analysis
Author
Date
Institution

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Table of Contents
Task 1-Introduction 2
Task 2 – Reporting / Dashboards 3
Task 3 – Advanced Insights: 9
Task 4 – Research 9
Task 5 – Recommendations for POLICE CHIEF 11
Task 6 – Cover letter13
Task 7 - The Reflection 14
References- 16

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Task 1- Introduction
Write a description of the selected dataset and project, and its importance for the firm.
In the selected database project, IBM Watson Analytics software has been used to record
each and every crime case reported by the citizen to the Chicago Police Department for storage
of the information and better analysis of the same information. The software is in turn used in
analyzing the information by isolating the required information any time required by the police
department. The software also presents the analyzed information in a visual manner by use of
graphs, making it very easy in drawing conclusions. The information in this software is usually
secure and only accessible by the relevant authority with an aim of reducing crimes cases.
Information is power they say, this means that a lot can be done if one gets information about
anything. This is the principle behind the use of this software by the police department. This is so
because in order to plan for any actions to take in cubing the crimes and come up with Predictive
solutions, information on type of crime, frequency of occurrence, day of occurrence and the area
of occurrence is very vital.
The IBM Watson Analytics software is being used by the Chicago Police Department's
CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) system in order to have a clear
picture on all forms of crimes so as to plan on the relevant actions to take and the methods of
application in the fight against crimes. The software also compares the reported crimes to the
arrests made. This will specifically help in law enforcement strategy in ensuring that the
criminals are followed and their actions brought to book. In terms of record keeping for future
reference in order to check on the progress of the Chicago Police Department in cubing crime
cases, The IBM Watson Analytics software is very important and crucial because the information
is securely stored and easily retrieved at will
Task 2 – Reporting / Dashboards

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1. What was the primary type that reported most crimes from district “8” in 2014?
Describe some point down here about above pictures, number of crimes in 2014 in
district 8
From the pie chart, the year 2014 is represented by the yellow color. The number of
crimes reported in that year in district 8 is 7160, this being fewer than the cases reported in the
year 2012 and 2016 which are 8890 and 8010 cases respectively. This shows a fluctuation in the
crime numbers over the years.
2. How many number of domestic reported crimes made in Chicago?

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Explain few lines down here about above picture, how many cases are there in Chicago
In Chicago, the number of domestic crime cases reported is quite high with the number
being 106,139 cases according to the IBM Watson analytics.
3. How many domestic number of reported crimes were made in 2012 to 2014?
Explain few points down here
Criminal damage was the primary type of crime in Chicago in the years 2012 and 2014.
The cases reported in the year 2014 however reduced as compared to the year 2012 with the
numbers being 10470 and 14050 cases respectively.
4. Which day is the busiest day of the week in terms of committed crimes?

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Explain above picture according question
According to the IBM Watson analytics, there is usually criminal damage crimes
committed in each an everyday of the week in Chicago, Sunday being the busiest day with 5397
cases being reported followed by Tuesday with 5328 cases, Wednesday follows with 5304 cases.
Monday is the fourth busiest day in terms of crimes committed with 5253 crime cases reported
followed by Thursday, Friday and Saturday with 5177, 5132 and 5047 crime cases being
reported respectively.
5. Which location description has the most number of crime reported on
Weekends?

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Explain above picture
The above picture shows a disparity between the number and types of crimes committed
and the arrests made. The picture show a reduced number of arrests made for all crimes as
compared to the number of cases reported. This shows that not all the reported cases are
followed up and culprits get arrested. For instance, theft is the most committed crime but
narcotics crimes culprits are the most arrested.

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6. Which location description has the least number of crime
reported on weekends
Explain above picture here
The picture above shows a list of crime types committed in varying rates. Intimidation is
the primary crime according to the picture above followed by stalking and kidnapping.

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Task 3 – Advanced Insights:
 Most of the people who commit theft cases are never arrested. This means that much
more effort must be done in theft crime investigations.
 Crime cases decrease with increase in distance from the street.
 Most arrests done are on the narcotics crime committers whereas theft is the primary
crime.
 The high number of domestic crimes reported per year in Chicago reduces its safe city
index and thus much has to be done to raise the index by reducing these crimes (Anuar,
2012)
 People take advantage of the people’s absence from their homes to accomplish theft
crimes that’s why crimes are more on Sunday, day of worship
Task 4 – Research
Watson Business intelligent reporting dashboards have been chosen because of the following
reasons
 Programmable in a mobile device- This helps in ease of access of required information in
a timely manner hence helps in a quick response especially in security issues.
 Customizable- The Watson Business Intelligent Analytics software is user friendly as its
outline is not fixed. It can be customized in a manner that suits the user in order to help in
isolation and analysis of required data. For instance, for the Chicago Police Department,
it has made it possible to isolate the crimes reported per day and area/region of crime.

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 Drill to details- Due to proper divisions of the software where different details of the
information are recorded, the Watson Analytic software has made it possible to have a lot
of very crucial details concerning the crime cases in Chicago. This is because there is the
provision of recording different aspects of the crimes such as day of crime, number of
districts and crimes, areas where the crime is committed, crime cases reported against the
arrests done among others.
 All information in one- All the details about the crimes in Chicago has been recorded and
stored in one consolidation. This makes it easy in retrieving any kind of information
required and analyze it at ease (Loya, 2017). This is done by only isolation the required
information only by a click button.
 Intuitive data presentation- The use of the Watson Analytics software is very easy and do
not need specialized training. This is because the interface is easy to use and navigate and
therefore makes it easy to use by any authorized user. It also presents data in an
inforgraphics manner, that is, using graphs and tables as shown below

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Task 5 – Recommendations for POLICE CHIEF
 Improve on the operations to arrest those who commit theft cases. This should be done
because the IBM Watson analytics shows a very big disparity between the numbers of
theft cases arrested in comparison to the number of theft cases reported in the Chicago
police department as shown by the figure below.

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This will help in improving the effectiveness of the theft crime cubing hence reduce this primary
crime in Chicago as those who engage in theft cases will fear being arrested.
 Increase the number of police on patrol in the street area and the resident areas. This is
because this is the area where most of the crimes are committed as shown below
This will automatically help to increase the effectiveness of the police department hence ensure
improved security in these crime prone areas.

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 Increase the number of police on patrol on Sundays. This is because this is the day when
highest number of crimes are reported as indicated by the figurer below
Task 6 – Cover letter
Police chief
Chicago police
25th Sep 2018
Dear sir/madam
I am a data analyst from Federation University Australia. I undertook your data analysis
project. I did this using the Watson Business Intelligent Analytic software that gave me a clear
picture of the crimes committed in Chicago. There are some conclusions that I arrived to after
the analysis that will be of great help to you in improving the security of Chicago. These include:

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 Sunday is the day when most crimes are committed.
 The residential areas and the streets are the hot spots of crime.
 The crime clearance ratio of Chicago is low.
 The safe city index of Chicago is low (Van den Berg, 2006).
Following the above observations, I would like to make the following recommendations in order
to improve the security of Chicago.
 Increase the police patrols on Sundays especially in the streets and the residential areas.
 Put more effort and lay strategies to arrest the crime perpetrators in order to improve the
crime clearance of Chicago (Sonne, 2016).
I hope that this information will be of great help in improving the security of Chicago and
that you will consider my recommendations.
Task 7 - The Reflection
The assignment on the project was so helpful in informing us as the leaners. Apart from
learning on the basics of the Watson Business Intelligent Analytic software, we also acquired big
data analysis skills that are very relevant in our learning experience and for future application.
However, the whole learning process was not without challenges. Being the first time to use the
Watson Analytic software, some of the areas were challenging to navigate through (Azhar,
2011). Also in the data analysis part, it required much concentration and collective input from all

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the group members in order to come up with a good, appealing and comprehensive conclusion on
the data provided.

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References
Van den Berg, L. (Ed.). (2006). The safe city: Safety and urban development in European
Cities. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Chen, H., Chiang, R. H., & Storey, V. C. (2012). Business intelligence and analytics:
from big data to big impact. MIS quarterly, 1165-1188.
Loya, T., & Carden, G. (2017). Business intelligence and analytics. Higher Education
Strategy and Planning: A Professional Guide, 191.
Guha, A., Wrabetz, J., Wu, S., & Madireddi, V. (2012). U.S. Patent No. 8,266,148.
Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Zimring, F. E. (2011). The city that became safe: New York's lessons for urban crime and
its control. Oxford University Press.
Sonne, W. J., & BCPI, C. (2016). Criminal investigation for the professional
investigator. CRC Press.
Anuar, A. N. A., Bookhari, S. N., & Aziz, N. A. (2012). The effectiveness of Safe City
Programme as safety basic in tourism industry: Case Study in Putrajaya. Procedia-Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 42, 477-485.
Azhar, S. (2011). Building information modeling (BIM): Trends, benefits, risks, and
challenges for the AEC industry. Leadership and management in engineering, 11(3),
241-252.

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