Crime sequencing: Fighting crime with mathematics and technology

The initial goal of this research was to understand crime sprees in South Orange, NJ. We wanted to create an algorithm that would help police departments identify characteristics of crime sprees and ultimately predict crime sprees based on these signs. Since crime sprees rarely occurred in South Orange, we refocused our attention to crimes committed in South Orange by area residents (South Orange, East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood, Newark, and Orange). Our second goal was to look at the distribution of these crimes in South Orange in zones defined by us. We wanted to discover how crime location was related to the perpetrators' starting point or home address.