NY Police Computer Predicts Robbery

[icymist]

NY Police Computer Predicts Robbery
By Bill Christensen

posted: 28 July 2005
06:12 pm ET



In the movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise plays a detective who uses computer system that gets input from psychics to predict murders before they happen. The film is based on science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's remarkable 1956 short story of the same name. Now, real-life detectives are using computers to predict crimes before they happen.

Lt. James McLaughlin of the Yonkers, New York police department Technical Support unit used a regular computer to analyze patterns in robberies in southwest Yonkers. According to the computer's analysis, there would be a robbery between 8 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday on South Broadway.

"He predicted it and he was right," Police Commissioner Robert Taggart said.


(more)
http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/050728_computer_crime.html

[iconoclastic cat]

1. "**He** predicted it..." ?

Daisy, daisy, give me an answer, do...

[icymist]

2. You got me on that one....Didn't notice the computer being referred to

as an living being, complete with a gender! How long before it becomes anthropomorphous? However, I'm a big PKD fan and am thrilled to see his fiction slowly become science.

[greyl]

3. I think Taggart was referring to McLaughlin, not the program

The two articles linked here are sadly lacking in info about McLaughlin's procedure. Is it as simple as noticing where and when crimes occur and extrapolating future probable locales and times?

---Anybody here enjoy watching the CBS TV show "Numbers" where the math genuis solves crimes in creative ways?
It's pretty damn good.

[arwalden]

4. I've Never Seen That... Is It Still On The Air?

... and it is better than "Medium"?

[greyl]

6. Fridays @ 10pm est

I'd bet that it's better than Medium. ;) I've seen about 10 minutes of Medium. I don't see how the show could be better than the woman behind it.

---On a related note, I'm pissed that Joan of Arcadia was cancelled to be replaced by a sort of "crossing over" show about a girl who communicates with dead people.
Joan of Arcadia was very good and had many brilliant moments. (and John Ritter's son Jason.

---On an even more obtusely related note: There is a stellar cover of "What if God Was One of Us?" on Prince's Emancipation album.

[salvorhardin]

5. Numb3rs isn't bad

I suspect it would drive a mathematician nuts though as even I found a couple of math clunkers in it last season, but they do get the general spirit right and it's an entertaining show. Pretty good cast too. Rob Morrow (Dr. Joel Fleischman from Northern Exposure), Peter MacNicol (lawyer John Cage from Ally McBeal) and Judd Hirsch (of Taxi fame). It was renewed for a second season.

[greyl]

7. I was wondering about the accuracy...

I've seen two episodes; the first show and the one two Fridays ago.

I found this article:

Harvard professor offers services as Hollywood mathematician

"After "Numb3rs" premiered in January, Farley e-mailed the show's producers and offered his services. He traded messages with Black, who agreed to start sending him copies of unfinished scripts. Farley won't disclose what his company is paid for their advice.

"Jonathan seemed very enthusiastic about pitching in," Black said.

Farley and Harkin check the scripts for errors, scribble suggestions in the margins and send them to Black, who passes them on to the show's head writers.

"He presents nice, concise suggestions," Black said. "It's up to the writers to implement them."

Farley and Harkin didn't start working for "Numb3rs" until after the fifth episode aired, so they are hard-pressed to cite examples of how they have left their mark on the first 10 episodes."

edit:fixed link and formatting
edit2: found this conversation critical of the show:
http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-61032_The_new_CBS_show_Numb3rs.html