This article presents an overview of predictive policing. Predictive policing refers to "any policing strategy or tactic that develops and uses information and advanced analysis to inform forward-thinking crime prevention." Experts who attended the first Predictive Policing Symposium in 2009 noted that predictive policing must be balanced with intelligence-led policing and community policing until better tools and databases are developed by the criminal justice system. The article also discusses the use of predictive policing in the field, the privacy and civil liberties issues that arise from the use of predictive policing, and current research projects being conducted on the field of predictive policing. The article identifies challenges faced by predictive policing that include how to compile valid and reliable data and measurements as well as how to incorporate proven crime prevention theories into predictive policing.