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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Ushahidi has been used to track violence in the Eastern Congo, monitor elections in India and Mexico, and even map crime in Atlanta.

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But by placing crime data onto a map showing your town, your neighbourhood and even your street, the statistics suddenly start to hit home.

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