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Showing posts from June, 2011

How To Unsubscribe From SpotCrime

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SpotCrime users have the ability to unsubscribe from our service right within their email alerts. On the bottom right-hand side of your email alert, there is a link to unsubscribe (see picture below). Click the link, and you will be redirected to the SpotCrime website. You will be asked to confirm your request to unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe button. Success! You will get a confirmation message that lets you know that your account is now deactivated. We're sad to see you go, and hope it's not for long. We are constantly working to improve SpotCrime and add more data to our site. We greatly value user feedback as well! Have good ideas for us? Comments or concerns? Want us to unsubscribe your account for you? Please email us at feedback@spotcrime.com.

Flash Mobs - the good and the bad

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The term 'flash mob' was coined back in 2003 and has been used to describe a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place (normally a mall or food court) to sing or dance and then disperse suddenly. If you aren't familiar with the modern day  flash mob , I recommend a quick YouTube search or check out the video below. It can be pretty cool to get stuck in the middle of one. Recently and rather quickly, it appears the modern day flash mob has mutated into a 'flash rob' .  Flash robs occur when groups of 10 or more people suddenly begin terrorizing businesses, store employees and average Joe's and then disperse suddenly, before police can arrive.  These flash mobs are not very fun if you find yourself in the middle of one. Most of theses flash mobs have been targeting retail or convenient stores.  The mobs are able to make off with more loot in faster time than the normal criminal.  The mobs are normally done long before police can arrive. J

View Your Cobb County, GA Map Here!

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SpotCrime is now mapping Cobb County, GA ! Cobb County is located just north west of Atlanta, GA and has a population of approx 715k.   Cobb County is considered part of the Atlanta metro area and holds cities like Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth and borders 5 counties including Fulton County , Douglass County and Paulding County . The Census Bureau has even ranked Cobb County as top 12 most educated counties and top 100 most wealthiest, which may be a reason why there seems to be a lot of burglaries in the county.  In the eyes of a criminal, wealthy people normally mean more and better things to steal. Check out the Cobb County map with only burglaries showing Now, check out the map with burglaries in the past week in the Mableton area . About more than half of the burglaries were forced entry, which most likely means the criminals scoped out the home/building before breaking a window or damaging a door to enter, similar to what this criminal caught on a homeowner&#

Savanna, GA Heat Map

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SpotCrime has the ability to create heat maps of shootings for a specific city.  The heat map will show more 'heat' where ever a shooting has occurred.  If there are multiple shootings in an area, the 'heat' will be more intense. Check out the SpotCrime heat map of Savannah, GA shootings . Now, check out the Savannah heat map with push pins where the shootings occurred. The Savannah areas with a lot of shootings are 'hotter' or more yellow than the other areas. With this map, it is easy to see where most of the shootings occur in Savannah .  This is pretty cool and very informing.  It looks like most fire power is released just south of the Savannah Historic District .   Want more information on what occurs in your Savannah area?  Check out SpotCrime or MyLocalCrime .  Sign up for your local Savannah crime alerts .  Stay aware, stay safe!

Data Added to the Buffalo, NY SpotCrime Map!

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SpotCrime has added recent data from the Buffalo, NY PD to the SpotCrime Buffalo map! Our endeavor to find a public outlet for up-to-date crime information from the BPD has proved very hard, but we aren't giving up! This recent data set we've added has data from January 1, 2011 - June 5, 2011.  Use the date range search option to search for crime in the first half of this year.  You can also search by keyword, address and crime type. We have put in a request to the Buffalo Police Department for more data, so if you're interested in crime that occurs in your Buffalo area, contact the department and let them know about us.  Also, be sure to sign up for your Buffalo SpotCrime alert.  An alert will be sent to your email when the map is updated. Want to see up to date data on SpotCrime or MyLocalCrime  for your area?  Contact your local PD and let them know about us.  We will map your city and send alerts -- all for free!  Stay aware, stay safe!

Duluth, GA is on the Map!

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You can now see what crime incidents occur in Duluth, GA ! Duluth is a suburb of Atlanta located in the northern part of the Atlanta metropolitan region .  The population is approx 27k and is the second largest city in Gwinnett County . In 2008 it was named Best Affordable Suburb in Georgia by BusinessWeek and in 2009, Duluth was ranked 26th by Forbes as one of the best places to live in America!  Now they make their crime data publicly available, what a great city! SpotCrime is mapping Duluth with the help of the Duluth police department .  When you check out the maps at SpotCrime or MyLocalCrime , you can see that there are quite a few 'other' icons.  If you hover over the 'other' icons, it shows mostly that a suspicious person was reported.  Residents have been doing a great job keeping an eye out for crime! You can also check out the map at WXIA 11Alive .  And you can even stay up to date on Duluth news at WXIA by changing your location on WXIA's 

SpotCrime Partners with Trulia and the Examiner

BALTIMORE--( BUSINESS WIRE )--SpotCrime – the most comprehensive online source for crime data – has signed a deal with national residential real estate website Trulia to provide prospective home buyers, sellers, and renters with comprehensive crime data in 50 major metropolitan areas nationwide. SpotCrime will power more than 90 percent of Trulia’s crime maps. “SpotCrime was founded on the principle that information is power. With our information, citizens’ awareness of their surroundings will increase and they will be able to make safer decisions. As a result, we are committed to constantly finding new and innovative ways to provide timely crime information to the public.” SpotCrime also announced that it will map crime data for Clarity Media Group, which owns the Washington Examiner and the San Francisco Examiner newspapers. While the agreement to provide crime data to the Examiner newspapers is similar to partnerships SpotCrime previously has forged with other major U.S. media comp

Gone Phishin' -- How to Avoid Phishing Scams

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Phishing is a way a scam artist likes to collect  private and personal information.  Normally, phishing occurs when someone or something hacks an email account or uses a bogus email to contact unknowing victims.  When contact has been made, the phisher will ask for and collect private or personal information like user names, passwords, bank accounts and social security numbers.  It's like fishing -- they bait you with a legitimate reason,  hook you when you unknowing send your private information to a scam artist. The best way to avoid phishing is by knowing what to look for and to NOT give out any personal information to anyone unless you absolutely know who you are giving your information to. The 'Bait': Email is a way most criminals like to phish.  They will send you email (most of the time it gets caught in your 'Spam' mailbox) asking for personal information like a password.  Check out the example below from a recent Yahoo! phishing email that was circ

SpotCrime Summer Safety Tips

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Going on vacation soon? Not sure about the area where you'll be traveling?  Check out the SpotCrime App for iPhone .  We've also made it easy to view MyLocalCrime and SpotCrime websites on any mobile device with a browser connection. Here are some resources to keep you and your family safe this summer vacation.  Besides signing up for your local crime alert, check out the tips below: Summer Travels Whether you're planning an extravagant trip out of the country or taking a road trip to visit family and friends Check out the US Government website for anything from highway safety to airline rules There are also some great tips here on how to stay safe when traveling abroad including: Don't dress like a tourist! Learn local laws and customs Keeping an eye on your credit and what to bring with you along the lines of money/credit cards/travelers checks (don't become a victim of fraud!) Check SpotCrime or MyLocalCrime for worldwide crime maps Summer Cam