Watch CBS News

NYPD Dedicates CompStat Room To Creator Jack Maple

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has dedicated the room where police brass are grilled over rising crime to the architect of the department's crime tracking system.

Jack Maple created CompStat in the 1990s.

The data-driven system of tracking crimes allows police to better allocate resources to high-crime areas.

NYPD Dedicates CompStat Room To Creator Jack Maple

Maple came up with the idea by collecting crime statistics, writing the numbers on napkins and spreading them out on bar tables.

Crime started falling and has been on a downward spiral ever since.

"Next year we will celebrate 25 straight years of crime decline in the city," Bratton said.

Bratton said Maple helped make the city what it is today -- safe.

Jack Maple
Jack Maple's hat and bow tie on display at the CompStat center. (credit: Juliet Papa/1010 WINS)

"The 'Jack Maple CompStat Center,' I've waited 20 years to say that," Bratton said. "One of the major reasons I wanted to come back was to make sure that the legacy of this great man was ensured."

"What Jack Maple brought to American policing was effectively a redesign, a rearchitecturing of how we think about crime," Deputy Commissioner John Miller said.

The portly Queens native was rarely seen in public without a bow tie, Homburg hat and two-toned shoes.

He died from cancer in 2001 at age 48.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories:

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.