By: Maria Moynihan Crime prevention and awareness techniques are changing and data, analytics and use of technology is making a difference. While law enforcement departments continue to face issues related to data – ranging from working with outdated information, inability to share data across departments, and difficulty in collapsing data for analysis –  a new trend is emerging where agencies are leveraging outside data sources and analytic expertise to better report on crimes, collapse information, predict patterns of behavior and ultimately locate criminals. One best practice being implemented by law enforcement agencies is to skip trace an individual much like a debt collector would.   Techniques involve using historic address information and individual connections to better track to a person’s current location. See the full write up from CollectionsandCreditRisk.com to see how this works. Another great example of effective use of data in investigations can be seen in this video, where one Experian client, Intellaegis of El Dorado Hills, CA, recently worked with local law enforcement to follow the digital data footprints of a particular suspect, finding her in in just five minutes of searching. p> And, yet another representation of improved data gathering, handling and sharing of information for crime prevention and awareness can be found on a site I was just made aware of by one of my neighbors – www.crimemapping.com. Information is collapsed across departments for greater insight into the crimes that are happening within a neighborhood, offering a more comprehensive option for the general public to turn to on local area crime activity. Clearly, data, analytics and technology are making a positive impact to law enforcement processes and investigations. What is your public safety organization doing to evolve and better protect and serve the public?     

According to Experian’s latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, interest rates for new auto loans dropped to 4.27 percent — the lowest rate on record. In addition to increasing new vehicle sales, the historically low interest rates helped consumers finance a larger balance, with the average new vehicle loan coming in at $26,719 for Q3 2013 — the highest average amount financed since 2008. Sign up to access our quarterly analysis of the latest automotive finance trends Source: Experian Automotive: Interest rates for auto loans hit all-time low, while average amount financed reaches highest point since 2008

Experian’s latest annual State of Credit analysis provides insight into the differences in credit habits by generation. While the youngest group, Millennials, appear to be novice credit managers, Generation Xers have the highest amount of average debt, are slowest to make payments on time and tied with Millennials for highest percentage of credit utilized. The results of the study reinforce the importance of lenders providing transparent consumer education on credit scores and responsible credit behavior. Snapshot of generational debt differences Baby Boomers (47 to 65) Generation X (30 to 46) Millennials (19 to 29) VantageScore® credit score 700 653 628 Average debt $29,317 $30,039 $23,332 Average balance of bankcards $5,347 $5,343 $2,682 Average revolving utilization 30% 37% 37% Late payments 0.33 0.61 0.58 Download our recent Webinar: It’s a new reality … and time for a new risk score Source: Experian’s State of Credit infographic