SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

SpotCrime  is now mapping crime in Toledo, OH! Toledo is the 4th most populous city in Ohio with a population of over 285k. In the past, we've been mapping crime from local trusted media outlets. Now, the police department is supplying information on their website for the first time since SpotCrime has been around. This is a great step in the right direction for transparency in Toledo! By making crime data publicly available and accessible, residents are able to check out, review, and share the information quickly.  Interested in learning about crime in your Toledo neighborhood? Check out SpotCrime or MyLocalCrime . On a mobile device? You can find the SpotCrime app in the iTunes and Google Play stores. Or check out SpotCrime.info on your mobile device. Stay aware, stay safe!

Because of the trusting nature of their generation, the amount of money they may have accrued over the years in retirement, and their health status scammers are constantly trying to target the elderly. We’ve come across quite a few recurring scams targeting the elderly that have been happening and have highlighted them in this post. First, here are some common traits of the scams we’ve found: Unsolicited calls, mailings, or door to door sales Asking the victim to send money in order to get money Posing as a family member to garner trust and get money  Offering ‘free’ products that require credit card, bank, Medicare, or insurance information Aggressive salesperson with no ID Asking victims to sign a contract or blank forms with out the chance to review them Being asked to wire funds immediately Think you or a family member has been a victim of a scam? It’s OK to let your local police department know. You may end up helping someone else in the future. Here are some

We’ve updated our Crime Data Transparency Ranking table. Check out the new table below and make sure to check out our previous blog for information on how we rank each city. We’re keeping a live table available to view any time we make updates  here . Static list of SpotCrime Crime Data Transparency rankings. View a live list here . Way to go Boston and New York City! These are the two cities we happily upgraded. Boston now posts their crime data on their open data site - they’ve been upgraded from a 1 to a 2. NYC is now publishing the NYPD Crime Map. They went from giving out almost no information to giving out monthly data. Since the data is monthly and there’s no true download option for all of the data, we’ve only upgraded them to a 1 (previously a 0). Colorado Springs doesn’t have an all-inclusive feed, but they are producing a crime blotter. We’ve moved them from a 0 to a 1. We’ve added New Orleans (NOLA) to our list. They’ve started posting data on their

Below is our live list of crime data transparency rankings by city in the US. We'll blog about updates we make, but for the most up to date list, make sure to check back! You can read more about the ranking system we used here . Let us know what you think!

There has been a recent string of serial sexual assaults across the city of Tulsa, OK . Police have connected at least 8 different assaults on women. Seven of the 8 victims have been women between the ages of 50 and 79. We’ve created a crime list for these assaults, check out a screen shot below and view the interactive crime list here . The Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan notes that a serial rapist is not common in Tulsa and there are 50 people dedicated to the task force that will be searching for the assailant. The assailant usually breaks in through the back of a residence preferring to stay quiet and out of the light. He does not typically make noise by breaking windows or doors. And sometimes he uses a knife to threaten victims once he has gained entry. The police aren’t sure of a good description of the suspect yet - he has been described as Hispanic, black with light skin, or white in his 20-40’s, so police are asking for residents to stay vigilant and conti