By Paul Tuthill
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Springfield, MA – National studies have found that streets where a high number of accidents occur , also have a high number of crimes. Police departments are using this data to implement new crime prevention strategies WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports
The police department in Springfield Massachusetts will be the latest to try a program called D-DACTS..an acronym that stands for Data Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety.. Police Commissioner William Fitchet says police will be deployed in large numbers to small areas of the city to ticket bad drivers, who may turn out to be real bad guys..
Fitchet says the strategy, which is relatively new, appears to have been successful in the communities that have tried it.
Springfield will try the approach for three months, during a time period when violent crime typically increases in the city as the weather warms. The city will use a 147 thousand dollar federal grant to cover the overtime pay for the beefed up patrols.
The effectiveness of the program will be analized by the Department of Criminal Justice at Western New England University, under the direction of professor Denise Gosselin.
Officials say the new strategy to combat gang violence had been in the works long before last weekend, when a prison escapee went on a violent rampage in Springfield. Tamik Kirkland allegedly killed an innocent bystander, while gunning for someone else whom he wounded. He then got into a shoot-out with police. A Springfield police officer and a Massachusetts State Trooper were hit, but not seriously injured thanks to the protective vests they wore. Kirkland was seriously wounded and remains hospitalized.
Authorities believe he escaped from prison so that he could avenge the shooting of his mother in Springfield.
Reflecting on Saturday's violent spree, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said cutting edge crime fighting strategies can only go so far.
Officials with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections are still investing Kirkland's escape. He reportedly put a dummy in his bed so that he would not be missed during a routine count, and then simply walked away from the medium security prison. The department says steps are being taken to assure a similar incident doesnot happen again