Elgin OPP: analytics helping to track down drunk drivers

The Elgin County OPP is touting the success of using analytics to crack down on impaired driving.

Officers have arrested and charged nine impaired drivers in the county since the start of 2017, with six of them located using “focused patrols” and predictive analysis.

“This might come from previous calls for service, public complaints, and they put it together and they put it forward to the front-line officers so they’re able to utilize their time more effectively while they’re on the road.”

The use of focused patrols and analytics allows police to use resources in a more focused way.

“The OPP recognizes that random patrol and non-strategic enforcement is not an efficient use of our police resources, so when we have something like analytics and focused patrols and we see successes, we want to get them out there – we want to make everybody aware.”

Crewdson adds that while the OPP are focusing on getting impaired drivers off the road, the focused patrols and analytics are also useful tools for police in dealing with a variety of other issues, including traffic concerns.