Using this hub for a POP project

Name the problem

Start from your own data: a recurring offense, place, or victim pattern that keeps generating calls. Phrase it specifically — “thefts from cars in downtown parking facilities,” not “property crime.”

Find the problem guide

Search the POP guides for your problem type. A problem guide summarizes what research says about causes, contributing conditions, and the questions your local analysis should answer.

Read what other agencies tried

Browse POP project submissions on the same problem. Project write-ups include the analysis, the response, and the assessment — including responses that failed, which is often the most useful part.

Pull your agency's data

Look up your agency in the agency directory. Its profile carries violent and property crime trends, NIBRS incident detail where reported, and staffing history from LEMAS survey waves.

Find comparable agencies

Use Explore to query agencies by population served, crime-rate bands, and type — e.g. cities of ~25,000 with high burglary — or browse the agency map. Each agency page also lists "agencies like this one," computed from size, crime mix, and staffing.

Check relevant policies

The policy directory indexes public police policy portals. See how agencies that ran similar responses codified them — patrol directives, camera policies, partnership agreements.

Locate supporting datasets

The resource search and source registry cover open datasets by type — calls for service, stops, use of force, and more — with provenance notes for each source.

Assess and document

After your response runs, return to your agency profile and compare the trend. Document the project in SARA structure — and consider submitting it to the POP Center, where it becomes part of the literature the next analyst finds.

Get the data programmatically

Everything on this site is also machine-readable: an index of markdown records and data downloads is published at /llms.txt. A documented public API is on the roadmap.