I tested a Databricks workflow to turn raw OSINT into a strategic summary (Volumes + model endpoint). Great for processing speed; accuracy, provenance, and bias remain uncertain - use with analyst oversight and clear evaluation criteria. medium.com/@routineacti...

Not something I usually do, but excited to share a first attempt at creating a Python package, hexseg. It assists in streamlining two popular count-based crime analysis methods by creating hexagonal grids or street-segment analyses across geographic study areas. github.com/routineactiv...

Police stops and naive denominators link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Love this picture #middlesbrough

New paper led by Mia Puur at Lund Uni out ✅ In the paper we show that combining spatial and temporal patterns is important to understand violent crime. Patterns differ a lot across weekdays vs weekends, mornings vs evenings etc. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

London weapon homicide and gang mapping. Interactive leaflet map using open source data. routineactivity.github.io/maps/2025-04...

Nice simple way for visualising density as elevation along street networks. routineactivity.github.io/maps/2025-05...

Using Open Data to Explore Crime in Boston MA - example for how open data, combined with a few open accessible tools — Python, PostgreSQL, and Power BI — can help deliver timely insights from almost real-time data feeds. medium.com/@routineacti...

Napoli 🇮🇹♥️

Thread. Some books I remember reading as part of my Human Geography undergraduate degree. 1. The Making of the English Landscape, W.G. Hoskins www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Engli...

Evaluating Place-Based Crime Interventions: A Walkthrough of the Home Office Clear Hold Build Impact Evaluation (propensity scores, synthetic controls and diff-in-diff) medium.com/@routineacti...

#criminologists #ebp #policing looking for papers that consider effect of days/weeks of action (short crackdowns) comparative to instead embedded regular consistent tactics/management over sustained periods of time, to address chronic problems?

The head of Amnesty International UK claims in this Guardian article that "The evidence that [predictive policing] keeps us safe just isn’t there". But that's simply not true. Let's look at what the best-available evidence on predictive policing shows … 🧵 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I thought this was disappointing. It starts with a conclusion, then proceeds to push a narrative towards that conclusion, whilst ignoring evidence to the contrary. No attempt to unpick data, stats, ML, AI - all muddied together. This fails to be a credible critique

Do we have comparative data for knife (carrying at least) spanning the same period? @iainbrennan.bsky.social

Before and after...Aberfeldy, Tower Hamlets, East London. www.onlondon.co.uk/dave-hill-wh...

Do remote workers deter neighbourhood crime? Evidence finds remote working explains significant proportion of the 30% drop in burglary since 2019. www.cesifo.org/en/publicati...

In game public safety messages. I've never seen public safety messages broadcast watching sports in the UK.

In Norway and noticed situational strategies for self-service checkouts I’ve not seen elsewhere. 1) a requirement to state you have scanned all items (set rules) 2) automated random checks on purchases by staff (formal surveillance) & 3) scanning receipt to activate exit barrier (screen exits)

@mannegerell.bsky.social some of my images (poor camera skills) from Hyllie in Malmö

And for even more, check out this (easy to read! non-academic!) paper I wrote for the Aspen Economic Strategy Group on why crime matters & what to do about it. www.economicstrategygroup.org/publication/...

Responding to nonemergency calls via video RCT findings from Dorset UK onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Hot off the press! New open access article from us out of #OperationSoteria on the unintended consequences of changes to police recording on rape. Read, enjoy, and weep at the cycle of one step forward two steps back in criminal justice reform academic.oup.com/policing/art...

New working paper: Temperature, crime and policing: Evidence from UK geocoded data Short thread below, paper available here: doi.org/10.31235/osf... #Econsky #Criminology #WeAreNCL

We're looking for a lead Quant Analyst to join our team. Interested in a new challenge, or know someone who might be? Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or apply here: www.crestadvisory.com/post/we-are-...

I simply could never have predicted I would end up such an avid reader of Computer Weekly! But honestly, I am always reading it. Another great investigation into #policing data and computing issues: www.computerweekly.com/news/3666154...

It's very quiet here on weekend mornings

NEW: The closure of youth clubs in the 2010s led to increased offending and worse GSCE results. Teenagers entitled to free school meals were most affected. Read @carmenvillaecon’s briefing: https://buff.ly/4fIiRK7 Read the working paper: https://buff.ly/3APnHq6

AI writing police reports. Hmm. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Interesting proposal to reduce knife crime in England and Wales by (they estimate) up to 50% by phasing out sharply-pointed kitchen knives in favour of rounded-end knives (since people cut meat with the blade, but stab people with the point).

New from Aiden Sidebottom, @iainbrennan.bsky.social, Spencer Chainey and myself. Problem solving violent crime: a guide for analysts discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

London weapon homicides 2006 to date (points) and neighbourhood locations associated with 'urban street gangs' (polygons) during the previous decades. lnkd.in/gb5s3gti Weapon homicide data is created using court, media and other publicly accessible online pubs

For those interested in #python #crimeanalysis Sharing several functions I've created (quick_folium.py via my GitHub) for creating quick interactive crime maps medium.com/@routineacti...

Some thoughts on using data driven tools to help police prioritise resources towards individuals medium.com/@routineacti...

Broadening the public health approach to policing. "...to include a focus on the situations that stimulate, permit, or give rise to violence and on what might be done to change those situations to produce less harm." academic.oup.com/policing/art...