Researchers of the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and the VU University Amsterdam join forces with the Amsterdam-Amstelland police force to optimize the planning of police services. New techniques allow a more efficient capacity planning and quicker response times by matching available resources with the probable occurrence of incidents. This research project is initiated as part of the Police and Science Programme.
Based on a large quantity of historical data the researchers will develop advanced planning and prediction methods. Recent research has shown that this data can predict the number and location of accidents, including times of occurrence.
Mathematical techniques can reveal valuable information about patterns and correlations from the large amount of data. This research is part of a recent trend to use Big Data to optimize decisions. Big Data has led to new developments in forecasting, statistical learning, optimization and data mining.
A complicating factor in this research is the uncertainty that play a major role in police services. The new prediction and planning methods are robust against changes in environmental factors by taking explicitly into account these uncertain factors.
CWI performs frontier research in the field of logistics and mobility. Results are applied by a wide range of organizations such as hospitals, transport companies, airlines and emergency services.
