The St. Louis region is taking a bold new approach to public safety with the launch of the St. Louis Public Safety Collaborative, a data-driven initiative that’s already showing promising results in addressing community safety challenges.
Data-Informed Community Engagement in Action
As recently featured by KSDK News, the collaborative brings together law enforcement, community organizations, and residents to implement targeted interventions in areas identified through sophisticated spatial analysis. This groundbreaking work represents a significant shift from traditional approaches to public safety.
“We’re looking at places, not people,” explains Dr. Rick Rosenfeld, a criminologist involved with the initiative. This place-based approach is the cornerstone of the DICE™ (Data-Informed Community Engagement) process that guides the collaborative’s work.
Strong Community Partnerships
What makes the St. Louis initiative particularly noteworthy is the strong coalition of partners driving the work. With support from the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and guidance from the Center for Policing Equity, the collaborative has built a truly community-centered approach to public safety.
The Urban League’s involvement ensures that community voices remain central to the process, while the Center for Policing Equity provides expertise in implementing equitable public safety strategies. Together with law enforcement and other stakeholders, these organizations have created a model for collaborative public safety work.
Built on the DICE™ Framework
The St. Louis Public Safety Collaborative was established using the DICE™ process developed and mentored by Simsi. This comprehensive framework guides communities through the steps of:
- Using data to identify environmental risk factors
- Engaging community stakeholders in solution development
- Implementing targeted interventions
- Measuring outcomes and adjusting strategies
Through ongoing mentorship and support from the Simsi team, St. Louis has successfully adapted this proven framework to address their specific community challenges.
Simsi Analytics: The Foundation for Targeted Interventions
At the heart of the collaborative’s work is Simsi’s analytical platform, which provides the spatial risk analysis that identifies specific locations for intervention. Rather than simply responding to where crime has occurred, this approach reveals why certain places experience higher rates of crime by analyzing environmental risk factors.
This analytical foundation allows the collaborative to focus resources precisely where they’ll have the greatest impact, leading to more efficient and effective interventions. By understanding the environmental factors contributing to crime, the team can implement changes that address root causes rather than symptoms.
Early Success and Future Potential
The initial results from the collaborative’s work are encouraging. As highlighted in the KSDK report, targeted interventions in high-risk areas are already showing positive outcomes. By combining data-driven analysis with community engagement, the St. Louis Public Safety Collaborative is demonstrating how communities can develop more effective, equitable approaches to public safety.
Learn from St. Louis’s Success
Communities across the country can learn from St. Louis’s innovative approach. The combination of strong partnerships, community engagement, and sophisticated spatial analysis provides a powerful model for addressing public safety challenges.
Interested in implementing a similar approach in your community? Contact Simsi to learn how our DICE™ framework and analytical platform can support your public safety initiatives.
Simsi provides the analytical foundation and DICE™ implementation framework for communities seeking more effective, equitable approaches to public safety.