The DOs and DON'Ts of a public crime blotter
Preventing, reducing, and addressing crime is the top priority of any police agency. Any effective and community minded police agency wants to increase the number of stakeholders it collaborates with to prevent, reduce, and respond to crime. This has led to crime blotters being one of the most common datasets police agencies make available to the public.
A crime blotter typically includes CAD and/or RMS data. A public crime blotter shows what your local police officers and deputies have to deal with throughout the day. This is great information that not only keeps the public aware and informed, but is also a building block for police transparency.
Since there is no kind of federal or state standard behind releasing this information, we’ve put together a list of DOs and DON’Ts to go by if your police agency is releasing a crime blotter.
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| Baltimore City and Baltimore County police both have data dashboards, however, only Baltimore City releases the underlying public data. Baltimore City is more advanced and transparent when it comes to open crime data than Baltimore County. |
DO
DO make the blotter available on your website, in an open format (machine readable format without restrictions on the ability to collect, use, and share).DO explain if the data comes from the dispatch log (CAD/911 log) or records management system (RMS).
DO make daily or weekly updates.
DO include a comprehensive list that includes any and all public incidents.
DO make sure to include the type of incident, date, time, location (block level address works), and any description (if possible).
DO establish a feedback loop with the community by including contact name, phone, and email address regarding questions related to the data.
DO document any changes to location, timing, or structure of the data.
DO NOT
DO NOT limit distribution (ie only for researchers or news media).
DO NOT use a private website as a means of distribution (Facebook, a crime mapping vendor website, NextDoor, etc) unless the website allows for open access. Keep in mind not everyone has an account with social media websites.
DO NOT pick and choose the incidents to publish. A good rule of thumb is to include anything public because you DO NOT want to make an area look crime free when crimes (no matter how minor) actually occur. Let residents figure out which incidents are important to them.
DO NOT only share the blotter in person or in the lobby (esp with COVID!)
DO NOT use vague locations like only city names, neighborhoods, police districts, police beat, etc. This makes it incredibly difficult for neighbors to tell if the crime happened next door or a mile away!
DO NOT include just statistics or summaries, but DO include incident based data used to create percentages and summaries.
Baltimore City CAD/911 dataset is updated daily. The Part1 incidents that power the Dashboard are also shared on the portal and are updated weekly.
GOOD examples
See the Police Foundation's Police Data Initiative calls for service list and incident (RMS) list.Baltimore City CAD/911 dataset is updated daily. The Part1 incidents that power the Dashboard are also shared on the portal and are updated weekly.
Kenosha, WI is a good example of an open crime blotter when an open data portal like Baltimore's is not available.
BAD examples
Baltimore County crime dashboard does not provide underlying data and is out of date. Additionally, the weekly crime blotter only lists a select few crimes.How does your police agency release public crime data? Let us know!
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