LexisNexis has acquired BAIR Analytics, a provider of analytics solutions for public safety. This is the latest in a series of public safety acquisitions for the company, and further underlines the broad push from the biggest government contractors into public safety. Public safety has also been a focus for civic hackers and municipalities recently as more public safety data is put online.
In August of last year, CivSource reported on two acquisitions by LexisNexis – PoliceReports.US and Coplogic. Both companies added to LexisNexis’ public safety and risk platforms, bringing features that include online distribution of vehicle accident reports, analytics, mobile capabilities and incident reporting.
With BAIR, LexisNexis will get crime investigation solutions including mapping and predictive analytics. These services allow law enforcement to visualize criminal activity patterns and plan resources accordingly. BAIR maintains a client roster that includes nearly half of all public safety departments in the US.
Police departments and other public safety organizations are rapidly moving toward analytics based decision making, relying on technology like mapping and big data to identify patterns and at-risk areas. Most of the Big IT contractors are out with solutions in this area, with prime movers including IBM and General Dynamics.
“The acquisition of BAIR Analytics builds on LexisNexis’ commitment to public safety, providing us the ability to combine BAIR Analytic’s analytical capabilities with our public records and linking technology to add context to crime patterns and enhance our ability to identify and locate persons of interest,” said Haywood Talcove, chief executive officer, LexisNexis Special Services, Inc.
