Jack Maple was born in Richmond Hill, New York in 1952. After studying to be an engineer at Brooklyn Technical High School, he decided to become a transit cop – then considered one of New York’s most dangerous jobs. He would rise to become Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD, and revolutionize crime fighting along the way.
Maple created a system called CompStat, for Complaint Statistics, that involved mapping instances of crime, initially across the subway system. When Mayor Rudy Giuliani tapped Bill Bratton – then head of the transit police – for the post of NYPD Commissioner, Bratton brought Maple along to implement CompStat citywide. Increasingly sophisticated computer mapping, combined with weekly meetings to craft strategy and demand results from precinct commanders, helped the CompStat system reduce New York City crime by 60%.
Jack Maple was considered the foremost authority on urban crime reduction and served as a consultant for cities across the globe before his death in 2001.
