(Photo by Allie Caulfield)
Police across U.S. cities have been deploying big data in law enforcement for years, and now one Pittsburgh councilman hopes cross-department cooperation can make it easier to recover stolen cars or vehicles connected to a crime.
Currently, the Pittsburgh Parking Authority monitors vehicles parked in residential permit zones, parking lots and metered areas, and collects license plate information on illegally parked cars. The new legislation, introduced this week by Councilman Dan Gilman, would allow the Mayor’s office, the chief of police and the director of public safety to work with the parking authority and share data that would, ideally, help recover stolen vehicles, find wanted people and monitor Amber Alerts.
“Right now, one arm of the city has critical data that the other arm lacks access to,” Gilman said in a statement. “For example, if the Parking Authority tickets a car that’s been reported stolen, no alerts pop up when the license plate number gets plugged into the system. This is common sense legislation that will solve a simple but critical problem.”
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 676 vehicles were reported stolen in Pittsburgh in 2013, up from 628 in 2012. “In 2013, city police cleared 34 percent of those cases, well above the 2012 national average of about 12 percent. The police bureau’s 2014 report is not yet finished, a spokeswoman said,” the Post-Gazette reports.
Making government business transparent and accessible to residents has been a priority for Mayor Bill Peduto, and the city has been rolling out open gov programs.