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Web Site Lets You Map Crime By Neighborhood

by Will Safer on February 6, 2008 at 04:18 PM

CrimeReports.com


When police departments release crime statistics for a city, town or neighborhood, it's usually just the local newspapers that catalog the data, and even then it's not complete. Enter CrimeReports.com, a reporting and mapping Web site that compiles and displays incidents on searchable maps.

CrimeReports.com takes data from police in various communities around the United States and puts them into map form so users can see where police calls and arrests have been made. The system started in Virginia and has been expanding since first introduced last year.

Police departments pay $100 to $200 per month for CrimeReports.com to go through their reporting systems and publish the information. Since police departments don't use one uniform system for capturing all their data, this can be a complicated and time-intensive process.

So far, about 40 police departments have signed up to be included in the site's mapping effort. Specifically, Washington, D.C., San Jose, Calif., and the entire state of Utah are participating in CrimeReports.com's crime data collection efforts.

Members of the public can sign up to receive daily e-mail alerts about crime in particular neighborhoods, although the information doesn't include exact addresses to protect people's privacy.

Here's what you can do with the Web site:

  • Sign up for daily (or less frequent) e-mail updates about crime in your neighborhood.
  • View maps showing types of crime and when and where they are occurring.
  • See addresses and photos of registered sex offenders living in your neighborhood.

The Web site's founder says the goal is to give people useful information about their communities but he also admits his site could lead to a slight increase in wariness or paranoia if a particular neighborhood shows up in police reports more than its residents had suspected.

From AOL Money & Finance/AP.



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