Grant: Alliance Grants

This project will apply computer science and data science in novel and effective ways to address public safety problems managed by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Corrections, Policing, and Public Safety ("the Ministry"). The core activity of the Ministry is to oversee Saskatchewan's correctional system and facilities, and to provide guidance and support to Saskatchewan's municipal police services. Specifically, the goals of this project are to (A) forecast the population in custody in provincial facilities, and (B) improve the monitoring of the inmate telephone system ("Telmate") by detecting anomalous patterns of usage. The potential outcomes, besides the research results themselves, are aids to decision making and knowledge relevant to new policies and procedures for the Ministry. As examples: (A) more accurate forecasts of the need for custodial facilities, and (B) software to support security intelligence officers in gathering evidence for criminal cases, involving detailed analysis of telephone call log data, which may lead to policies affecting the permissible frequency, duration, and times of inmate calls. The primary benefit will be to aid the Ministry in several initiatives related to public safety in Saskatchewan. The project is intended to increase public and inmate safety by detecting illegal behaviours, and facilitating the analysis of confidential data. It will also provide training for highly qualified personnel in computer science, data science, simulation, software design, data mining, database access, machine learning, deep learning, time series, and handling confidential information.