MEDINA — How many burglaries have happened on my street?

City Council’s Finance Committee agreed Monday to subscribe to a Web-based software that will help residents answer that question.

Pat Berarducci

It also will help Medina police better analyze crime data, Chief Patrick Berarducci said.

The software costs $7,500 initially and $18,750 for a five-year subscription. The expense still must be approved during a regular Council meeting.

Berarducci said the software would help the Police Department determine areas where more patrols might be needed, as well as spot trends in crime.

“That’s a big help, when you start to see a trend developing, you can obviously deploy people early on,” he said.

The software, he said, would mark criminal incidents, such as burglaries or car break-ins, on a map of the city, allowing residents to access it. Police would have access to much more detailed data analysis, he said.

“It gives us an ability to be more efficient at what we do,” Berarducci said.

Ward 3 Councilman Mark Kolesar said he wasn’t sure spending money on the software would be worthwhile, because Medina is a fairly low-crime community.

Mayor Dennis Hanwell said the software was a good investment, and it would help the department, which has reduced its staff over the years, “do more with less.”

Contact reporter Kiera Manion-Fischer at (330) 721-4049 or kfischer@medina-gazette.com.