One of the wellsprings of the revolution in policing that has helped cut crime rates nationwide this past decade was a brilliant innovation called ComStat. Pioneered by former New York Deputy Police Commissioner Jack Maple, ComStat was a computerized system for displaying, in near "real time," exactly where crimes were occurring. In one fell stroke, ComStat replaced the practice of assessing crime through written after-the-fact reports with a timely picture of public safety in specific neighborhoods. It helped make beat commanders accountable for results; made it vastly easier to target resources; broke down bureaucratic boundaries between various agencies operating in the same areas; and led to proactive policing based on emerging trends. Widely credited for a major role in New York's big declines in crime, ComStat also helped achieve striking results in other cities such as New Orleans and Newark.
Early this year, Mayor Martin O'Malley of Baltimore decided to bring in Maple and replicate ComStat. But when O'Malley and his staff watched ComStat in action, they had a simple but very important insight: Why stop with policing? Why not use computer mapping to revolutionize other city services as well? That's the idea behind CitiStat, which could do for all city services what ComStat did for community-based policing.
Almost immediately, Baltimore began working on initiatives to map service delivery and the problems city services address, beginning with the public works, health, recreation, and housing departments. The first effort was LeadStat, aimed at targeting older housing and creating a strategy for eradicating lead poisoning in Baltimore. LeadStat contributed immediately to city prosecutions of 29 property owners for lead violations.
Other mapping projects under way include TrashStat, aimed at speeding up trash collections; KidStat, a tracking system for youth recreation programs; and DrugStat, a comprehensive evaluation of drug treatment centers and their effectiveness.
It's clear O'Malley and his administration intend to use the CitiStat model as a comprehensive management tool for Baltimore's government. It makes sense, because CitiStat promotes good government as well as smart, well-informed government. As in policing, neighborhood-based data on other city services can make proactive government possible; can break down bureaucratic boundaries and foster community-based teamwork; and most of all, can be disseminated to news media, community groups, and citizens to create neighborhood partnerships and accountable government.
CitiStat bears close watching by state and local governments around the country. It's a great example of "digital government" -- using new technologies to revive old-fashioned standards of public service.
-- Ed Kilgore
