Should We Have a Clery Act for Cities and Counties?
So if you attend a University that receives federal aid, you should have access to crime information. But what about everyone else? Why shouldn't cities and counties have the same requirements to inform their citizens?
Part of the inspiration of this post was a recent story in the Houston Chronical about a woman who successfully sued her apartment complex because her apartment company failed to notify her about a recent break-in at the apartment next to her. Shortly after renewing her lease, she was attacked in her apartment and brutally raped for 10 hours in February of 2009. In this particular case, the apartment complex was at fault partially for not sharing the severity of the nearby incident. It could be argued, that another organization had the responsibility to notify everyone nearby of the break-in and attempted rape - the Harris County Sheriffs Office (HCSO).
It should be noted that the HCSO does now have a viewable crime mapping system for the public to look at. However, that system restricts the press from sharing the data, and specifically prohibits SpotCrime from accessing the data. You can look at the data, but you can't share it for fear of a lawsuit. Since 2008, we have been asking the HCSO to share data with us and make their crime data fully public. And we are still trying. Our particular approach with an agency that is so obstinate and difficult to deal with is the Shawshank approach. We just keep writing in the hopes that one day we get the data open and available to everyone without fear of a lawsuit for sharing. The goal is to get this information to the public as quickly and openly as possible so that we can reduce crime through an informed public.
What is your local law enforcement agency doing to inform you of crimes in your area? If they have a mapping system, does the system restrict the press from access and why? What is the ultimate danger to the public for sharing this information (once it has been approved for release)?
If we accept the objective of the Clery Act that informing students and parents of crimes on campus will help prevent future crimes, then why not make an similar effort for ever citizen?
Hopefully, the move towards crime data transparency can be solved without another law. Many agencies have been releasing crime data openly for some time, and more are coming online. And why not allow the press to have full access to this data, they've got a good track record of reaching the public and are economically incentivized to do so. With the advent of social media, everyone can now quickly share information. Limiting the ability to share only stunts the reach of the information.
In the mean time, we are anxiously awaiting a response to our latest letter to the Harris County Sheriffs Office.
If you'd like to help our effort, ask your police agency to make their data fully public (no restrictions on access). And we at SpotCrime will start mapping the data as soon as possible. For all of our safety, we deserve equal and open access to timely crime data. Every Jeanne Clery that now graduates college, is potentially subject to the same limited information that existed on college campuses 25 years ago. Let's close the gap and give everyone the opportunity to be informed about crime regardless of being on a college campus or not.
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