Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Increasing the number of Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers at locations and times when and where there may be a higher of degree accidents with fatalities can save lives.
Determining how many troop patrols to schedule during university sporting events, large concerts and other major special events throughout the state can help prevent tragedies.
These are just two reasons why the Mississippi Highway Patrol and Mississippi State's Social Science Research Center have joined together to upgrade the state safety agency's system for analyzing patrolman reports. Scientists at the university center are using satellite imagery to develop a pilot computer program that overlays traffic data about accidents, fatalities and other critical information into a mapping system.
"What once took days to calculate is now available with the click of a button," said SSRC director Art Cosby. "This is fact-based policing at its best."
Cosby said the computer-based program enables officers to see in real time what is effective and to adjust their locations on the basis of the latest information. The previous pencil-and-paper system developed in the 1990s resulted only in basic information and required significant manpower and time to analyze individual trooper reports.
The MHP-MSU partnership is made possible by a $400,000 federal grant to the center's Public Safety Data Laboratory. The grant ends later this year, but an additional $300,000 grant is being requested to help the program continue.
The program generates user-friendly reports in different categories--by region, district and individual trooper--monthly, weekly and daily. Specifically, it tracks alcohol accidents, vehicle fatalities and specific types of citations.
"It's a level of detail they've never had before," said Angela Robertson, a research professor with the data lab. "We're integrating this computer analysis into their day-to-day activities."
Cosby said all nine highway patrol districts now are using the reporting system.
Capt. Randy Ginn of the Starkville district has served during the last year as liaison between the patrol and research center.
"Using the technology allows us to take a better look at how we can best use our resources," he said, adding that he and SSRC researchers continue to meet weekly to analyze trends found in the computer reporting system.
Now that it has proved successful with the MHP, the modernized reporting information could be applied to other state agencies, Cosby observed.