SpotCrime Offers Free Software and Programming To Police

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 crime data and participate in the open initiatives in their city,” says SpotCrime Founder and President Colin Drane. “We understand the budget constraints facing police departments, which is why we are offering this software for free as well as reimbursement costs for programing.”

In true open data spirit, SpotCrime will not take any ownership control of the program once it is installed, nor will the company request exclusive access to the program. 

“The only thing SpotCrime asks is that the data pulled be made available to everyone,” notes Drane.

Open data creates a level of transparency with residents and public officials, increasing trust and accountability, fostering trust with that imperative community-police feedback loop. “Our goal is to help the process on how public resources are allocated. SpotCrime has always been a strong proponent of open access to data,” 

Drane continues. “The easier it is for a community to access and share crime data, the higher the chance that community will be proactive in the fight against crime.” 

SpotCrime  anticipates sending 300 million email alerts in 2019 and estimates that more than 20 million people interact with the crime data the company generates each month.

In addition,  SpotCrime's free iTunes app, Google Play app, Alexa skill, and 'sister' site MyLocalCrime iTunes and Google Play apps allows users to obtain detailed crime descriptions and share crime incidents with others via a variety of platforms. 

“SpotCrime is a commercial enterprise. We do not take any public funding and have no interest in locking up data,” explains Drane. “SpotCrime’s intent is to get all relevant crime information to the public, taking full advantage of the Internet to allow this data to be shared, ultimately driving both greater awareness and new measures that will lead to a reduction in crime.”

For more information on SpotCrime Catapult or obtaining up to $4,000 for programming for your police agency, send an email to catapult@spotcrime.com or call (619) 663-7768.