Crime Data Transparency Ranking by City - Update
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.
Way to go Boston and New York City! These are the two cities we happily upgraded.
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| Static list of SpotCrime Crime Data Transparency rankings. View a live list here. |
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 open data site, but the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) proprietary crime mapping vendor still has preferential access and more up to date data than what’s available to the public. Because New Orleans is still giving preferential access over the press to their vendor for public dissemination, we won’t be upgrading them to a 2 until there’s equal and fair access to the data.
We also overlooked Tampa last time, and have added them to our list!
We’ve kept 5 cities’ rankings the same, but there are some developments worth noting.
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO), who is contracted with a proprietary crime mapping vendor, is in the middle of reviewing all of their public records requests. They notified us they won’t be sending us data until the review process is over. However, once the process is over, we will be getting a file again AND we were told the data would be posted to JSO’s website for anyone to use and share! We’re keeping them at a 1 for now, but will move them to a 2 when we see the file published openly.
Columbus arbitrarily took down their open feed and replaced it with a proprietary vendor. With the help of residents, we were able to get the open feed back up and running. For this, we’re keeping them at a 2.
We’ve found that Omaha has allowed a local paper access to crime data (in addition to a proprietary vendor), but they still haven’t made the data available to everyone - they’re staying at 0.
In Minneapolis, the MPD contracts with a proprietary vendor, however there’s been a lot of push back from local residents about how the data on the vendor’s website is not open. Read more about it here. They’re staying at 1.
We’ve learned in Phoenix that they’re in the middle of upgrading software and have contracted with a proprietary vendor. We’re keeping them at a 1, but we have also learned that the data feed we are using will be turned off. If that’s the case, they’ll be moved to 0.
Unfortunately, we’ve downgraded 2 cities.
Dallas police department (DPD) is undergoing a software upgrade (estimated at $4 million, not including overtime and training) and their open data source has been off since June 1. We were told by the DPD that the feed would be up at the end of June. It’s July and we haven’t heard back from our DPD contacts about a timeline as to when the feed will be restored. We’ve moved them from a 2 to a 1 because they are still making their Calls for Service log available. But Dallas community watch efforts have certainly taken a hit.
Finally, the worst offender - Indianapolis - jumped from a 2 to 0. It’s our understanding that the original data feed we were using to map crime in Indy was requested by the Office of Homeland Security in Indiana. However, because of recent computer upgrades and budgetary issues, that data is no longer being requested and is therefore no longer available and open to the public. And the Indy PD recently contracted with a proprietary vendor.
From our perspective, running the most visited crime map in the US, Indy went from one of the most open cities in the US and an early starter in the transparency movement to the bottom of the rung.
We’ll revisit the list again in a couple of months. Hopefully there will be more upgrades than downgrades again next time. If you feel any of these rankings are unfair or you want more of an explanation, feel free to contact us! We’d love to hear from you.
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