The "Algorithm"

We make it a habit not to link to the New York Times, but even good habits get bent sometimes. This article goes into the mysterious algorithm that runs much of the Department operations via the SSL - Strategic Subject List - and which is currently the subject of a number of FOIA requests:

• Gun violence in Chicago has surged since late 2015, and much of the news media attention on how the city plans to address this problem has focused on the Strategic Subject List, or S.S.L.
  
  The list is made by an algorithm that tries to predict who is most likely to be involved in a shooting, either as perpetrator or victim. The algorithm is not public, but the city has now placed a version of the list — without names — online through its open data portal, making it possible for the first time to see how Chicago evaluates risk.
  
  We analyzed that information and found that the assigned risk scores — and what characteristics go into them — are sometimes at odds with the Chicago Police Department’s public statements and cut against some common perceptions.
  

The article drills down into the working of the violence equations, mostly by working backwards from results and what limited information they derive from Department and City press releases. The FOIA request may reveal more of the methodology, but regardless, it's an OK read from a left-leaning anti-American "progressive" rag.