Pattern analysis -- the heart of data mining -- is conventional crime-solving, whether the suspicious patterns are spotted on a crime pin map, on a city street, or in an electronic database.

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Could the patterns of homelessness near the Caltrain tracks provide better data in predicting violent crime in San Jose?

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He and his colleagues had even compiled a list of the top 50 training shoe sole patterns which had been found at crime scenes in the region.

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