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AGENCY TESTIMONY
CompStat evolution and zone-based policing approach
0:14:19
ยท
154 sec
Commissioner Tisch explains the evolution of CompStat and the introduction of a zone-based policing approach to more effectively target crime in specific areas.
- CompStat reimagined to focus on smaller geographical areas than precincts
- Introduction of 'zones' - hyper-local concentrated regions for targeted deployments
- Use of mobile field forces for flexible and adaptable deployments
- Early results show major crime in zones down more than 28% overall, with a 50% reduction in shootings
Jessica Tisch
0:14:19
We had to reimagine how the police department viewed and analyzed crime.
0:14:24
And to do that we went back to the greatest innovation in policing over the last century, CompStat.
0:14:29
When CompStat was developed in the early 1990s, my mentor, Commissioner Bratton was thinking about crime at the precinct level.
0:14:36
But the average police precinct in New York City is quite large and each one varies widely in size, population and land use.
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What was working in Midtown might not apply to Mott Haven and 30 ago the data was less detailed and the process less defined.
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Now though with more powerful analytic tools and the capability for more sophisticated evaluation, we can be more precise than ever.
0:14:58
And we can extend the transformation that Comstat began through the establishment of zones.
0:15:04
The idea is to focus on much smaller geographical areas than precincts, specific street segments, portions of neighborhoods, even stretches of blocks that cross precinct borders.
0:15:14
Wherever we see increases in crime, we analyze those spikes and those areas become our zones, hyper local concentrated regions where we can maximize the effectiveness and the efficiency of our deployments.
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These deployments are flexible and can quickly adapt to shifting conditions through the use of our mobile field forces.
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The idea is quite literally to flood the zone.
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In a world with limited resources you can't flood the zone across a four square mile precinct and you don't need to.
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But you can do that across 10 problematic blocks.
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Every day we are deploying about six fifty additional officers to dozens of zones around the city.
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These deployments are not about targeting individuals.
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They are about combating crime exactly where it is happening.
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This is a focused location based scalpel approach to crime and the early returns are extremely encouraging.
0:16:07
Over the first ten weeks of 2025, major crime in our zones is down more than 28% overall with a 50% reduction in shootings.
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This overall drop in crime includes a 37% decline in our 120 Fifth Street zone in Northern Manhattan, a 42% reduction in our Downtown Flushing zone, and a 19% drop in crime in the White Plains Road zone in The Bronx.
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And in our Roosevelt Avenue zone, major crime is down 37% compared to last year.
0:16:37
Complex analysis establishes the zones and then just like they did in 1993, we put the cops on the dots.
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It is a data driven model based on straightforward logic.
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Uniform police presence drives down crime and disorder.
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And it is working above and below ground.