My Way Home
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 four different websites? I don’t even check out more than two social media sites to figure out what my friends are up to nor do I check more than one email address (and even if I did, there’s an app for that)!
Lucky for me, I know of all of the crime mapping websites out there (I even work for one). But for someone else - perhaps a parent driving their kid to a sporting event (and yes, us Smalltown, USA-ers have to drive fairly far to get kids to sporting events) - how are they supposed to know that each police agency uses a different crime map? Are they really expected to Google search each police department, do an hour of research in order to figure out if the parking lot of a basketball gym is a safe area?
Check out the map I tried to create of I-5 from the Sea-Tac airport to Smalltown, USA. It’s complete crap.
(Skagit County - 1 crime mapping company maps) 
(Snohomish-2 crime mapping companies maps)
(Seattle - 2 crime mapping companies map)
(King County-1 crime mapping company maps)
Why does this happen? The blame can be placed on the crime maps. They place restrictions and terms of use on the public crime data on the maps. They don’t share. They don’t work together (in fact, they sue each other). The economic motive is obvious. Keep the data for yourself and make the most money. They are the ones stifling innovation. Do they really care about making communities safer? Or are they more interested in their own financial gain than letting me know if I might get mugged around the next corner?
Who knows. But a good solution to this problem would be for police departments to publish the data themselves. Crime mapping companies are not predisposed to sharing, so public agencies should be encouraged to share the data themselves. Create a spreadsheet for anyone - the press, the crime maps, and me! - to look at the data, to map the data, to share the data, and to use the data to become informed. Streamline the process. Make it easier for residents - the public - to become informed.
When data is released in a spreadsheet for everyone to view, I have a feeling the crime mapping companies will follow suit. They’ll stop acting like babies and actually do something for their community.
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 four different websites? I don’t even check out more than two social media sites to figure out what my friends are up to nor do I check more than one email address (and even if I did, there’s an app for that)!
Lucky for me, I know of all of the crime mapping websites out there (I even work for one). But for someone else - perhaps a parent driving their kid to a sporting event (and yes, us Smalltown, USA-ers have to drive fairly far to get kids to sporting events) - how are they supposed to know that each police agency uses a different crime map? Are they really expected to Google search each police department, do an hour of research in order to figure out if the parking lot of a basketball gym is a safe area?
Check out the map I tried to create of I-5 from the Sea-Tac airport to Smalltown, USA. It’s complete crap.
(Skagit County - 1 crime mapping company maps) (Snohomish-2 crime mapping companies maps)(Seattle - 2 crime mapping companies map)(King County-1 crime mapping company maps)Why does this happen? The blame can be placed on the crime maps. They place restrictions and terms of use on the public crime data on the maps. They don’t share. They don’t work together (in fact, they sue each other). The economic motive is obvious. Keep the data for yourself and make the most money. They are the ones stifling innovation. Do they really care about making communities safer? Or are they more interested in their own financial gain than letting me know if I might get mugged around the next corner?
Who knows. But a good solution to this problem would be for police departments to publish the data themselves. Crime mapping companies are not predisposed to sharing, so public agencies should be encouraged to share the data themselves. Create a spreadsheet for anyone - the press, the crime maps, and me! - to look at the data, to map the data, to share the data, and to use the data to become informed. Streamline the process. Make it easier for residents - the public - to become informed.
When data is released in a spreadsheet for everyone to view, I have a feeling the crime mapping companies will follow suit. They’ll stop acting like babies and actually do something for their community.
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