NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa Police recently rolled out the law enforcement version of "Moneyball".
They're now using computer data to pinpoint where they need to focus their attention.
Since June, Nampa Police have been using what's called Compstat Policing to identify problem areas.
And it's a system they say that's already having big success.
"Weve been able to see a very good drop year to date since we've implemented Compstat." explains Captain Curt Shankel with Nampa Police.
Specifically a nearly 12 percent drop in traffic accidents a 29 percent reduction in burglaries and 40 percent reduction in auto theft.
All thanks they say to a better use of police statistics that used to be overlooked according to Corporal Aaron Schreiber,
"For years and years and years it sat there and we haven't had a great way of retrieving it and making it changeable."
Compstat is credited with huge reductions in crime in certain big cities since it was introduced 20 years ago.
But on the down side, some criminologists say a system based on numbers can lead to excessive and heavy handed policing to "get the numbers up".
