SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

After a victorious sweep last night by JV and Varsity highschool basketball teams I help coach, the post victory speech was stopped short when my players stated that they were not excited to go to school the next day. There is a school policy that kids have to attend three consecutive periods in order to participate in any after school activities and we had another game scheduled the next day. And the 'tomorrow' they were speaking of also happened to be the Mayan prediction of the end of the world. So I didn't think twice when I laughed at them and told them they better be in every single class. 'A kid threatened to shoot up the school and kill students tomorrow. None of us want to go.' My kids were afraid to go to school, not because of a Mayan prediction, but because of a threat by a peer. They had every reason to be on edge. Fortunately, the kid was found expelled right before our game. I got confirmation from one of the teachers at the school and told th...

The National Institute of Justice has recently announced new funding opportunities for research . If you are planning on applying for NIJ funding for research please remember that SpotCrime has free data for research and plans to release more data in 2013. We are committed to release and share public crime data for positive purposes. We made our historical database available earlier this year in hopes that crime patterns apparent in the data would be analyzed and new methods of crime prevention would arise from the findings. Some of the research the NIJ will be funding sounds pretty interesting. One program will provide funding for analysis of existing data the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. Another program will provide funding to the Ph.D. Graduate Research Fellowship for research on crime, violence, and other criminal just related topics.It would be interesting to see what researchers find from their analysis of that data, especially at the Ph.D. level - it would also b...

SpotCrime has mapped crime data from Columbia, SC , check out a screenshot below Columbia, SC is the largest city in the state of South Carolina and has a population of about 130k. It's located in central South Carolina , separated from West Columbia by the Congoree River. The city is also home to the University of South Carolina . Check out our University Crime Maps at UCrime.com From checking out the map, you can see that a majority of the assaults occur right outside of the University. The only description we were given in most assaults from the PD were 'Simple Assaults' so it's hard to tell if someone was seriously injured or what really happened ( another reason why we think details are vital information in staying aware of your surrounding ) Because the way we have been required to collect the information from the Columbia Police Department (via FOIA request), the data displayed on the map is a little behind...

BALTIMORE, MD (12/11/12) --- SpotCrime – the most comprehensive online source for crime data – has surpassed 500,000 subscribers just prior to the end of 2012, making the Baltimore-based company the most visited crime mapping site in the world. “Nearly 55 percent of online users looking for incident details and crime mapping information now turn to SpotCrime,” says the company’s Founder and President, Colin Drane.  “That’s more than double our nearest competitor and has resulted in SpotCrime sending an average of 165,000 crime alert emails per day or more than five million email alerts monthly.” In addition, SpotCrime has become the most liked crime map on Facebook, garnering more than 70 percent of Facebook “likes.” The company anticipates those numbers will increase in the future due to recent expansions of its partnerships with two of the country’s largest media companies, Sinclair and Gannett. Those partnerships mean that television stations in ...

Which is more valuable when trying to inform citizens of crime in their area - Press Releases or a crime data feed? Answer: Both - when used together Check out the SpotCrime Ottawa, Canada map . This department does not offer a public and open access to crime data, so we map crime here solely from press releases sent out by the department . Press releases normally include a lot of description and detail - descriptions of suspects including what they look like and what they were wearing, a step by step account of what happened, the approximate time the incident occurred, what type of items were stolen, the date, the case report - pretty much anything that can help solve a crime or help inform the public of what has occurred. However, press releases are only released on certain crimes that the department thinks is noteworthy or important. Check out the Ottawa map again - You can see that the department releases a lot of information about robberies occurring in certain locations. T...

Holy cow look at all of those crimes on the map!! That is what you'd first think looking at a crime map in a city like Baltimore . But, if you really think about it and think past all of the thefts, shootings, assaults, you start to think about how those icons got there. Think about the work and people involved to get a dot on a map. It starts with 911. A concerned resident (like you) sees something suspicious or a crime and calls 911.  Then, the 911 Dispatcher collects as much information as possible about the incident. They then decide where, how, and how many officers to dispatch to a certain location. This dispatching process takes equipment and technology. Phones, database systems, cars, radio, uniforms, badges, guns, and training. Then comes the actual officer. Well trained officers are needed to respond to each and every dot on the SpotCrime map . We have a database of well over 15 million crimes . That's A LOT of work for police officers! Once the off...

SpotCrime has launched CrimeTip.us , an easy to use crime tip submission platform. Crime prevention can not be achieved by police departments alone. SpotCrime is run with the hopes that the easier it is for the public to view and share public crime information, the easier it is for communities to become informed and involved, and the easier it will be to lower the crime rate. Crime tips are also an important part in crime prevention. In an effort to make crime tips seamless, easy, and useful, SpotCrime has introduced it's own crime tip service for the public and law enforcement. The new SpotCrime crime tip feature is easily accessed through the SpotCrime website (via a crime detail page or a SpotCrime city map page) or by heading to CrimeTip.us . The CrimeTip.us page asks a series of questions, allowing the submitter to include as much information as they'd like to include. The user can easily and instantly add an address to the...

SpotCrime has begun to map crime data from the LAPD again ! The public data feed Spotcrime was using to map LAPD data was interrupted in 2011 when  LAPD moved from an open mapping system to first providing data solely to the LA Times and then contracting with a police vendor to map crime for the public. Recently, the LAPD published a public crime data feed again on their website via a FTP (file transfer protocol). We feel this is great step in the right direction for departments, especially for departments of LAPD's size. A public data feed in spreadsheet format available for anyone to view electronically with no restrictions on sharing shows true transparency with crime data within a department. Make sure to thank the LAPD for their work toward publishing a feed. And if you live in the LA area, be sure to sign up for your local crime alert from SpotCrime . We will send you a crime map tailored to your address and specific radius ...

Check out the crime list we made for the recent fondling reports in Springfield, VA View the SpotCrime crime list of these incidents here There have been a total of four incidents that have occurred over the past month involving a suspect wearing a plain red baseball cap and described as Hispanic or Asian..  The Fairfax County PD are investigating to see if they are related. The incidents sound related and it looks like the perpetrator makes sure he has an easy getaway as each incident has occurred near a major highway. Stay on the lookout in your area. If you see anything suspicious, be sure to contact your local PD.   Sign up for your local crime alerts to stay aware of the crime in your area. And, if you're interested in making your own crime list, check out our video tutorial here . Stay aware, stay safe!

Charleston  is the capital of West Virginia as well as the most populated city in the state. Its metro area has a population of approx 305k! You'll notice there are numerous thefts on the map.  If you hover over the thefts, you can see that most are related to vehicles.  If you live in Charleston, make sure to lock your car and remove all valuables from sight!  ( Click here to find out how to perform a search on SpotCrime in your own city) This is a big step in the right direction for agencies in West Virginia - there are only a couple of agencies in the state of WV who provide crime maps for residents. Don't see a map for your West Virginia area?  Reach out to your local PD.  Ask them to send data to SpotCrime .  If they send the data, we will map it and send alerts for free. Stay aware, stay safe!

http://www.popvssoda.com/ Is it Soda or is it Pop? Is it a Theft or a Burglary ? You’d describe both objects the same, but depending on where you live in the country, you will call the same object by a different name. Soda vs Pop; Gumband vs Rubberband; Dad vs Pop; Clicker vs Remote vs TV Changer; Ya’ll vs Yins vs Yous; Pocketbook vs Purse vs Handbag; Monkeyball vs Gumball;  feels like the list is never ending! This can also be applied to words when describing crimes on a crime map . In categorizing thefts and burglaries, this word conundrum also happens. For example, cars.  When someone steals something from a car - is it a theft or burglary? For SpotCrime , we usually rely on the agency to classify these. Most Universities classify them as burglaries and many police agencies use theft.   Shootings , however, are a different story for us. Most often a shooting is lumped into a category of aggravated assault. We break out shooting when we can - because our maps are ...

Thanks to feedback, we've been able to add two new cities to SpotCrime -  Fairfield, CA and Bellaire, TX ! Fairfield has a population of approximately 108k and we reached out to the department due to an email from a concerned user who wanted to be able to track crime in her neighborhood. Here is the email from her - ' I live in a neighborhood that has been seeing an extensive number of home burgluries [sic] /robberies as well as vandalism. We have had at least six burglaries in the last two weeks and none of them are showing up on your map. Why is that?' We had been mapping areas around her city, but had not yet started to map Fairfield.  We reached out to the PD and within a couple of days established a feed! Pretty simple!   In Bellaire, TX, we  received  another email, but this time it was from an officer at the police department.  The officer wanted to post crime to SpotCrime to help better inform residents of crime in his town. ...

In an effort to make crime data easily available anywhere, w e recently made some changes to SpotCrime.info , making it easier to use on any mobile device.  Check out the screen shot View this version of SpotCrime by heading to SpotCrime.info on your mobile device. We figured these changes would make it easier for you to view the SpotCrime website on a smaller screen.  Some changes you'll notice is the crime list option in the upper right side of the screen.  This option allows you to view just the list of crime in the area you searched. You still have the ability to tap a crime to see more details, however a list is helpful so you won't have to tap on every icon to get more information. We made the icon key easy to hide (notice the 2 arrows next to the key), allowing you the ability to view more of the map. And finally, we made the buttons bigger (especially helpful for those who have fat fingers like me!) Try www.spotcrime.info on your mobile dev...

If you haven't heard by now, Go Daddy had some problems today and the SpotCrime website was taken down for a few hours. Looks like everything is back up and running. We are reviewing options related to this outage.

According to Compete.com , 55% of the people looking at the major crime maps in the US for July 2012 go to SpotCrime.com. Here's the breakdown and chart below: Thanks everyone for making SpotCrime the most visited crime mapping website in the US.   And many thanks to all the police agencies who make their data fully public without restrictions on sharing.   We should all be in this fight against crime together. Finally, a big thank you to our media partners who help us get this vital public information to the public.  Knowledge is power, and transparency strengthens our great democracy. We should all have equal and fair access to crime information for our neighborhoods.

SpotCrime is now mapping Grapevine, TX ! Grapevine is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Tarrant County near the DFW airport.  It has a population of over 46k and in 2007 was named 'One of America's Best Places to Live' by CNNMoney.com . SpotCrime collectively maps Grapevine , Tarrant County , Fort Worth , Flower Mound , Lewisville , Grand Prairie , and Dallas (to name a few) in the DFW area.  Check out  SpotCrime.com , MyLocalCrime.com , or SpotCrime.info to view a 'drag and drop' crime map of this large metropolitan area. We're not sure of any other crime map in the area who provides as much information as SpotCrime does for DFW residents and we believe this is what makes SpotCrime the most comprehensive crime map on the Internet ( not to mention we are also currently the most viewed crime map on the Internet ).  We've accomplished this because we do not charge police department or residents to map dat...

Check out the SpotCrime crime listing for the spree of robberies that recently hit south west Baltimore.  The suspects targeted businesses in Lakeland and Landsdowne, MD located in Baltimore City and Baltimore County .  Both the County and City departments worked on the investigation.  A tip from the public led to the arrests! Seeing these robberies on a map makes it apparent they were connected because they happened in close proximity to each other.  This is a good tactic to note when checking out crime maps for your own community watch - pay attention to any reoccurring crimes in close proximity of each other, then keep an eye out.  It's probable that the same crime will happen again, committed by the same person.  Sometimes this is typical with car thefts and burglaries too - the criminal hits multiple times in the same area.  Your community watch group may be able to spot them in action with enough time to ca...

We are testing out some SpotCrime data on ArcGIS.  Check it out View Larger Map It was fairly simple.  Choose the basemap you want to use, then add a layer by uploading a file with data and, boom goes the dynamite , you have a crime map. You can hover over each orange dot to view some metadata about the point.  This is a great feature, however I would find the map more useful if I could make each incident a different icon.  This is what I like about SpotCrime - our picture icons are easily identifiable.  I'd also like a search option (date range, crime type, keyword). The best thing about this map is the share feature - you can easily embed the map, share it on Facebook or Twitter, or share the link with whomever you want. Check out the ArcGIS ESRI site here Don't see your city on SpotCrime ?  Reach out to your local PD and ask them to send us data.  We will map it for free!

I live in Smalltown, USA.  The closest airport is 2 hours away.  In fact, 2 hours is how long it takes me to get to any major city(or mall for that matter).  It’s nice living in a small town - no traffic, quiet, and feels safe.  But when I leave my small town, it’s the opposite.  Whenever I venture out of Smalltown, USA, I make sure to check out the area where I’ll be hanging out - especially the crime in the area.   I’ve found that, with the amount of technology floating around the Internet these days, this isn’t as easy as it may seem. From the airport to Smalltown, USA, it’s about 100 miles one way, about a 2 hour drive, passing through many cities/counties/jurisdictions. Where is the safest place to take a pit stop along the busy, bustling I-5 highway? If I want to learn about crime in all of the areas I pass through, I have to check out 4 different crime maps.   Yes. Four. How am I supposed to get a clear picture of crime if I have to check out fo...

Our  police   departments  work hard to keep you safe - especially during the holidays, natural disasters, and even through tough economic times resulting in cuts in resources within the  police  force. Contact  your  local PD - give them a BIG  Thank  You for doing what they do (even if you recently got a ticket for doing 5 over in a school zone...and  your  right headlight was out...and you forgot to put  your  updated registration in  your  glove box because  your  husband forgot to give it to you...) They work hard and are willing to risk their life to keep our neighborhoods safe . If the area  your   police   department  patrols is mapped on SpotCrime , make sure to also give a BIG  Thank  You for making crime data available for the public to use. Public data belongs in the hands of the public. If data is mapped on SpotCrime, it is likely  your   police...

In this post, I’d like to talk about the limitations of public crime maps and quasi-public-proprietary crime maps.   Don’t get me wrong, we at SpotCrime are fans of crime maps .  They are an effective tool to represent crime data and get information to the public.  But, crime maps are just one of many options of delivering useful crime data to the public. Maps in general will always have some type of dimensional limitations.  No matter how you adjust the parameters of time and distance with data on a map, it will still be just an incremental snapshot of the data set.   With crime data, if you take a too small snapshot and an area can appear to have no crime.  Take a too large of a snapshot and amount of crime data could crowd the map, show too much crime, and render the map unreadable.  Heat maps are sometimes employed to show density of data on a map, but these too have their own adjustable variances that can influence what is being projected. ...

The FBI recently published their annual 2011 UCR statistics for cities across the US.  These statistics are compiled by the FBI with data that is submitted by police departments.  Most departments across the US voluntarily submit their crime data to the FBI on a monthly basis.  If you're interested in UCR statistics for your city, give your local PD a ring - UCR stats are public information. You can check out and download the FBI 2011 UCR data here Out of curiosity, I created a few charts to visualize what my chances were of being a victim of crimes in cities with a population greater than 1 million.  These cities included Chicago , Dallas , Houston , Las Vegas , Los Angeles , New York , Philadelphia , Phoenix , San Antonio , and San Diego . Check out chances of being a victim of a violent crime in this chart.  Violent crimes are crimes against a person.  They include murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.  These crimes are some...

Check out the SpotCrime Jackson, NJ map below Jackson is located in Ocean County, NJ outside of Trenton and Philly , near Toms River .  The city has a population of approx. 54,850 and is home to the tallest roller coaster in the world - Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure theme park.  Jackson also holds two other Six Flags parks - Hurricane Harbor and Wild Safari. Looks like most of the crimes occur around an area north of the Westlake Golf and Country Club off of N County Line Road.  If you click on the 'Satellite' option on the google map, you'll see that this area is a much more populated area than the rest of Jackson.  The city is home to many parks and wildlife refuge areas. SpotCrime works with the local police department to map crime and send alerts to residents.   If you are in the Jackson area, make sure to thank the PD for their transparency and sending data to SpotCrime .  Don't forget to also sign up for your local Jacks...