SEATTLE -- It's been one year since the Seattle Police Department started SeaStat, a program which focuses on using crime data and community input to deploy resources. On Wednesday, during the department's bi-monthly meeting, Chief Kathleen O'Toole pointed to proof of its success.
A year ago Seattle was dealing with staggering car theft numbers. Thieves had stolen more than 3,400 cars by the first week of August last year.
It was one of the first problems SPD tried to tackle in SeaStat. The program brings department heads and precinct captains together to use crime data to deploy resources.
"Where are these occurring? What times of day are they occurring? What days of the week are they occurring? And who is doing these auto thefts?" asked Chief Operating Officer Mike Wagers. "Focus the resources on the right places at the right time or on the right people."
As a result, car thefts have dropping dramatically from 3,407 by the first week of August, 2014, to 2,214 for the same time in 2015, down 35 percent from one year to the next.
Wagers admits they still have a long way to go with car thefts, but SeaStat allows them to track their progress.
One of their next targets is thefts from apartment parking garages, which is driving up the city's numbers in residential burglaries.
"That's a very different strategy and tactics than just talking about residential burglaries, in terms of what most people think of someone kicking in your back door and coming into your home and stealing a bunch of stuff," said Wagers.
That is the purpose of Seastat: using data to understand the crime and finding the best way to address it.
Wagers says SeaStat has had its challenges. Using the data-driven program to solve budget issues has not been as successful.
