During the port security conference of the International Airport and Seaport Police last night, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani announced his intention to implement a new port security law enforcement program based upon the widely praised "CompStat" initiative he launched as mayor of New York City.
As with Compstat, the "PortStat" initiative would gather statistics on arrests, complaints, suspicious activities and other intelligence information that would detect criminal, security-breach and terrorist activity trends at airports and seaports around the country. The resulting intelligence data would assist federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in adjusting their security strategies in an ongoing and pro-active basis.
The Mayor's Compstat program is credited with helping to lower New York's crime rate by more than 50 percent during his tenure. The program allowed police to statistically monitor criminal activity on specific street corners as well as citywide, holding precinct commanders accountable for criminal activity in their neighborhoods.