When a series of armed robberies threatened the popular Five Points neighborhood of Columbia, SC, officers in the CPD had immediate access to pertinent information about the robberies due to their recently implemented CompStat management system. Implementing the CompStat system meant an entire reorganization of the department in order to create the new criminal intelligence unit (CIU), which now serves as the department’s central warehouse for the collection and dissemination of crime related information. Previously, the Five Points robberies would have been dealt with in a reactionary manner and data on the crimes would not have been analyzed and disseminated. Now, the new CIU immediately gathers and disseminates information about related crimes to all units within the department as well as to neighborhood crime prevention groups, local businesses and residents, and the media. Challenges with implementing the CompStat management system included difficulties related to refitting the department structurally to accommodate the new system as well as challenges related to training the entire staff on the concept. Evaluation of the CompStat process at the CPD by a professor at the University of South Carolina indicated that violent crimes were down 13 percent and property crimes were down 18 percent since the implementation of the CompStat process. According to the CPD, access to real-time crime data has significantly contributed to their ability to respond to and prevent crime in the community.