ExpertCop

The allocation of police resources in urban areas aiming at preventive policing in these areas is one of the most important activities of the police, that of management at a tactical level. This activity, where the distribution of criminality in the area is analyzed, is usually decentralized, and according to this the allocation of the available police forces is made. The volume of information that the police departments posses to analyze, is one of the principal factors that make it possible to give an effective answer to society. Especially, it is observed that the tactical managers have lack of training as to the administration of the information for the process of decision making. In reality, the understanding of the mapping of criminal activities, even using GIS, is not a trivial task.

In addition to this fact, practical experiments in this domain cannot be made without high risks or costs due to the fact that human lives are involved, with strong social reflexes. In this context, the adoption of simulation systems as a tool for teaching, training and supporting decision making, becomes fundamental.



The ExpertCop system seeks to give support to education through the induction to reflection of simulated criminal phenomena in an urban area. The system receives as a starter an allocation plan for the police resources available for a certain period, and makes simulations of how criminality behaves because of the allocated policing. The objective is to allow the student to understand the consequences of his/her allocation as well as the cause and effect relationships. In ExpertCop, the simulations in an atmosphere of learning, supported by graphs and analysis tools, allow the student to manipulate parameters dynamically and analyze the results.