Case Study: Altoona Police Department achieves faster, data-driven crime analysis and strategic resource allocation with ESRI ArcGIS Insights

Altoona Police Enhance Strategic Planning and Crime Analysis with Data Analytics

Altoona Police Department, serving a community of about 20,000 near Des Moines, faced slow, static reporting and limited location awareness in its CompStat-driven workflow. Captain Tony Chambers was manually extracting SQL data into spreadsheets and pivot tables, producing reports that were often weeks behind and did not tie analytics to precise locations—making timely resource allocation and frontline decision-making difficult. Chambers explored ESRI offerings and sought a solution that combined spatial and nonspatial analysis with easy access for patrol commanders.

Chambers implemented ESRI’s ArcGIS Insights (integrated with ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro), a web-based tool that fuses location analytics with charts and tables in one place. The change enabled interactive, dynamic reports and faster access for first-line supervisors, eliminated multi-step spreadsheet refreshes by updating a single dataset, and shortened the reporting lag previously measured in weeks—improving situational awareness, resource allocation, and day-to-day operational decision-making.

Altoona Police Department

Tony Chambers

Captain