New software allows Saugus police to target crime

SAUGUS – New software recently installed at the Saugus Police Department will give officers more insight and better ability to track crimes in town, said Chief Dominic DiMella.The new crime bulletin software breaks down police calls into monthly reports using Google Maps and sorts them by type of call, arrests and accidents.?We now have a monthly crime analysis bulletin to better enable me to use my resources for when and where crime is happening,” said DiMella. “It?s definitely going to be a helpful tool. It will give us the resources to put people in the places when and where crimes happen.”The software was installed last month, with June being the first full report generated. The analysis shows various maps for where syringes were found, where home break-ins occurred and where motor vehicle break-ins occurred. It also gives detailed analysis of car accidents, showing location, cause, road conditions and kinds of collisions.The report shows rear end collisions made up 32 percent of accidents, while single-vehicle crashes made up 25 percent, sideswipe accidents were 7 percent and head-on collisions were nearly 4 percent.Many of the crime maps show incidents like breaking and entering calls occurred throughout out town.?It?s going to take a while before we can find a trend,” said DiMella. “This is the first month, but as it goes on, we?re hoping to see a trend, for example, a particular place on Route 1 seems to be having cars broken into at a certain time and certain day, we can have resources there.”DiMella said the software cost $9,000 to install, which included the help of a consultant, and noted it?s something he?s wanted since taking over as chief because it helps him put “cops on the dots.”?We?ll be doing this monthly and then trending it out over the year as the months go by,” he said. “This puts dots on maps so we can actually see where the crime is being done. A lot of the bigger departments have been doing this, but this is something I?ve been wanting to do since I got here. I think it?s going to be an effective tool for the department and a help for the community for us to be able to more effectively use our resources.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].