SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

Funding for police health, opioid crisis, privacy concerns over surveillance, police benefit from open data, body cams prove effective, big data develops smart cities, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Ga Agencies to Receive Portion of $62 Million to Support Health, Safety of Police Officers  (AllOnGeorgia) A salute to TPD for changing policy to provide vital information about crime | Our opinion  (Tallahassee Democrat) Manchin, Capito announce nearly $38 million to address opioid crisis, reduce crime, and improve public safety in West Virginia  (MyBuckhannon.com) SC police departments say body camera video modernizing police work  (The Post and Courier) Justice Dept. plans crackdown on violent crime in 7 cities  (WWMT) Body cam video shows Colorado officer who dodged DUI charges drunk in patrol car  (KSN) CRIME RATE Takeaways from 2019 Crime Data in Major American Cities  (Brennan Center for Justice) 16 Members Of Suspected Drug Trafficking...

States starting to take new approaches to the opioid crisis, deescalation training rolling out, lowering risk for violent crime, communities react to facial recognition tech, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Assessing Similarities and Differences in Self-Control between Police Officers and Offenders  (American Journal of Criminal Justice) Dallas Mayor’s Task Force On Safe Communities Is Weeks Away From Presenting Recommendations  (21 CBS DFW) Cop who blew whistle on arrest quotas felt ‘threatened’ by then-NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton: court docs  (NYDailyNews) N.C. County Takes Preventive Approach to Opioid Crisis  (GovTech) see also:  Massachusetts Is Trying a Radical But Shockingly Simple New Response to the Opioid Crisis  (Mother Jones) De Blasio's Answer to Garner Death, NYPD Deescalation Training Slowly Evolves Toward Meeting Mayor’s Rhetoric  (Gotham Gazette) IRS touts 91% conviction rate for its 2019 tax crime cases  (Post Bulletin...

SpotCrime - an independent crime mapping and crime alert service - is re-introducing SpotCrime Catapult, a free software solution that allows police departments worldwide to make their crime data public. Catapult was created by SpotCrime developers and enables any police department to export public crime data from their records management or computer aided dispatch systems.  In addition to the free software, SpotCrime is also offering any police department that implements Catapult and makes their crime data available to the public, up to $4,000 in reimbursement to defray costs of implementation.  Alternatively, SpotCrime is also willing to itself pay up to $4,000 to provide the technical services to help pull a public crime data file from any police agency's system. (Detailed terms and conditions set forth here http://bit.ly/131j4xg ). “With open data initiatives rolling out everywhere, SpotCrime wants to make it easy for police departments to release their crim...

Police mental health study, social media and camera surveillance, data to curb violence, cities trying to end violence with community initiatives, drone policing, and more... POLICE CONDUCT A systematic review of mental health symptoms in police officers following extreme traumatic exposures (Study)  (TaylorandFrancisOnline.com) Dramatic body cam footage shows rescue of kidnapped 8-year-old Texas girl  (AJC) Aggressive Cops Or Politicians-Who Is Responsible For Strained Community Relations?  (CrimeInAmerica.net) Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Police Can’t Force You to Tell Them Your Password  (EFF.org) Judge Rules FBI Cannot Hide Use of Social Media Surveillance Tools  (Courthouse News) FBI Unites Traditional Techniques with Tech-Driven Applications to Solve Today’s Crimes  (Nextgov) The police experiment that changed what we know about foot patrol  (WHYY) CRIME RATE Five ways cities are using data and tech to curb violence  (a...

SpotCrime is introducing the MyLocalCrime mobile application to the Google Play and iTunes app stores. The MyLocalCrime app puts crime information at the public’s fingertips by displaying nationwide crime data mapped to the block level and a nationwide most wanted database . It also includes a free crime tipping service for the public and police agencies. A cold case database will be added in early 2020. MyLocalCrime allows users to obtain detailed crime descriptions and seamlessly share crime-related information with others via text, email, and a number of social media platforms. The app includes a map with verified incident-based crime data down to the street level. Most wanted criminals are displayed in an area, based on the user’s location.  The data on MyLocalCrime is collected from more than 1,000 police agencies, including the 100 most populated cities in the U.S., and is frequently updated. Each data point includes a source back to the police agency from whic...

Media coverage of gun violence, can crime be predicted with AI and machine learning, lack of facial recognition laws, SpotCrime's FOIA testimony, open data to transform and engage communities, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Beyond crime rates and community surveys: a new approach to police accountability and performance measurement  (Crime Science Journal) IRS Claims to Have Identified “Dozens” of New Crypto Criminals  (Inside Bitcoins) Detailed look into Winston-Salem Police Department’s need for gunfire detection system  (MyFox8) Can We Trust the FBI's Crime Estimation Procedures?  (Academia.edu) Lessons to learn from a school resource officer  (PressHerald) Portland police chief walks out of meeting as school board asks for more time on body camera issue  (PressHerald) CRIME RATE Bias, Sensationalism Distort Media Coverage of Gun Violence, Conference Told  (TheCrimeReport) Chicago gun violence, drug cartel mayhem fueled by straw purcha...

It has now been months since Sheriff Grady Judd turned off the crime blotter for the public. And we are still scratching our heads.  We can estimate that at least 4,000 crimes have occurred since then. Burglaries, robberies, thefts, shootings, arsons, and home invasions are now invisible to the public.  Why would any police agency reduce transparency? In the twelve years that I have been reaching out to police agencies, I have never seen an agency get operationally better by hiding information from the public. Not sharing crime data publicly reduces transparency and retards accountability. Almost every major agency in Florida provides data to the public. Sheriff Judd is one of the exceptions. Removal of public access to crime information significantly reduces the public’s perception of the difficult daily work Polk County Sheriff’s deputies face responding to everyday crimes. Currently, only the showboat busts that the Sheriff uses to promote himself are being made p...

SpotCrime has been asked to submit testimony on an upcoming Kansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) hearing that will be discussing changes to the current FOIA laws, bringing transparency in Kansas into the 21st century. You can read the testimony we submitted below. This is not our first time providing testimony on access to public information. In 2014, we were asked to provide oral and written testimony on the Maryland Open Data Bill (SB644) . The data SpotCrime collects is public information, so if a police agency is not already openly releasing the data publicly to their website or they don't have some sort of public blotter, we are sometimes directed to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the information. This has allowed SpotCrime to provide an invaluable case study on how transparency and public access laws are being applied at the the local level. We've found that after we submit the same request to local jurisdictions, each police agency ha...

Schools to monitor students social media, PredPol's (un)effectiveness, looking at the juvenile crime rate, violence in Mexico, big data policing, video surveillance, does legalizing marijuana have an effect on crime, and more... POLICE CONDUCT “It’s PredPol, and it’s going to reduce crime”: Agencies take algorithmic effectiveness on faith, with few checks in place Out of over 50 agencies surveyed, none indicated they had examined effectiveness of “data-driven” approach  (MuckRock) see also:  Cities Should Look At Los Angeles’ History of Big Data Policing and Avoid Its Mistakes  (Catalyst) The effects of body-worn cameras on police-citizen encounters and police activity: evaluation of a pilot implementation in Philadelphia, PA  (Journal of Experimental Criminology) Mayor Jim Strickland says consent decree limits MPD's ability to fight crime; activists cry foul  (Commercial Appeal) In a rare move, cop faces a criminal leak investigation  (Sun Sentine...

Police reform, community engagement, facial recognition tech, do license plate readers really solve crimes, unlocking and democratizing data and tech, questioning voting rights of felons, the ongoing surveillance tech ethical debate, and more... POLICE CONDUCT New Austin PD unit aims to reduce Riverside crime through community engagement  (The Daily Texan) Chicago Police Department Accepts New Recommendations to Boost Homicide Clearance Rate  (WTTW) Police Reform and the Dismantling of Legal Estrangement  (Yale Law Journal) Ring Gave Police Stats About Users Who Said ‘No’ to Law Enforcement Requests  (UpShed) Traverse City Law Enforcement Leaders Plead For More Resources  (Traverse Ticker) Washington to Use Federal Grants to Clear Rape Kit Backlog  (Governing) see also:  She was raped 15 years ago. Her rape kit was finally tested and turned up a match  (KUOW) SC sheriff guilty of misconduct, faces up to 1 year in jail and is the nin...

Ethics behind the camera/license plate reader/facial recognition surveillance tech adopted by police, hotspot policing in Schenectady, high pollen days show correlation to lower crime, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Schenectady police talk data, hotspots following conference  (Daily Gazette) New grant funds partnership to fight violent crime  (Local 21 News) Civil Rights Groups Ask Legislators To Block Ring's Surveillance Partnerships With Law Enforcement  (TechDirt) Milwaukee police officer buys children car seats instead of ticketing their mom  (CNN) CRIME RATE More sneezing, less crime? Health shocks and the market for offenses  (ScienceDirect) Crime in Maine has declined more than 56% in 7 years, annual report shows  (Press Herald) WSU study of connection between marijuana legalization, crime turns up surprises  (Spokesman-Review) 18 pounds of fentanyl seized in Southern California — enough to make 4 million lethal doses  (CBS Ne...

Surveillance planes to combat crimes, facial recognition tech in schools, hot spot policing, mental illness and crime, AI, CA ends private prisons, and more... POLICE CONDUCT LAPD changing controversial program that uses data to predict where crimes will occur  (LA Times) Community Based Public Safety Solutions Are Working in South Los Angeles  (LA Sentinel) Fort Bend County Sheriff Nehls: Mental illness ‘biggest issue’ in Fort Bend County  (Houston Chronicle) STUDY: Where’s The Crime? Exploring Divergences Between Call Data and Perceptions of Local Crime and the microgeographic dynamics of this ‘hidden hot spot’  (Oxford Academic) Fort Collins Police Chief oped: Mindful approach to policing, community health helps increase safety  (Coloradoan) How Many Police Officers Should A City Have?  (WCCO) IRS Followed Bitcoin Transactions, Resulting In Takedown Of The Largest Child Exploitation Site On The Web  (Forbes) CRIME RATE Air Pollutio...

The age of surveillance, facial recognition, using blockchain with body cam footage and to fight deepfakes, domestic violence, cops get sued for untested rape kits, and more... POLICE CONDUCT $455 per minute: NYC speed cameras issue over $28M in fines following expansion, data shows  (Staten Island Live) US and UK Sign Crime Data Sharing Agreement  (OODA Loop) Cities want technology vendors that listen, not just 'sell stuff'  (StateScoop) Privacy, Civil Rights Groups Press Amazon’s Ring to End Its Local Police Partnerships  (Fortune) see also:  Team-Up Aims to Give 911 Dispatch Access to Camera Feeds  (GovTech) Women All Over the Country Are Suing Police for Failing to Test Their Rape Kits  (Mother Jones) What if Your Abusive Husband Is a Cop?  (The New Yorker) CRIME RATE New FBI Data: Violent Crime Still Falling  (The Marshall Project) How to predict whether a gun owner is more likely to commit violent crimes  (MarketW...

DNA databases help solve crimes or invasion of privacy, the rise of the surveilled neighborhood with license plate readers, home security cameras, and smart streetlights, fighting violence with community engaged greening, Facebook and police facial recognition, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall Says Summer Crime Initiative Made ‘Significant Impact’  (CBS DFW) DC expands gun testing to link and close shooting crimes  (WTOP) Police say complaints have dropped thanks to body cameras  (mrt) ‘Critical’ shortage: More than 100 Seattle Police officers left the department last year  (Q13Fox) CRIME RATE Uber allegedly discourages staff from disclosing crime reports to police  (Engineering and Technology) Busy Streets Theory: The Effects of Community-engaged Greening on Violence  (Society for Community Research and Action) see also:  Fighting gun violence in Chicago with trees, rakes and cleanup crews Deportations don't re...