SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

Nextdoor is a private social networking website for neighbors. Crime is a popular topic among neighbors on the site - approximately  1 in 6 posts created on Nextdoor are about crime . Here is how you can share SpotCrime on Nextdoor: 1. Figure out the SpotCrime URL you’d like to share: Do you want to share a map location? Head to the front page of SpotCrime, type in your location, click ‘search’. A brand new URL should appear for you in the address bar of your browser. Copy this URL. Example:  https://spotcrime.com/#300%20e%20lombard%20st%2C%20baltimore%2C%20md Do you want to share a specific crime? Click on the icon on the SpotCrime map and then click on ‘View Details’ OR click on the crime in the crime list below the map. A new page should appear for you with more information on the crime. Copy this URL. Example:  https://spotcrime.com/crime/84931219-1a82891338eae1271828b40002cf2e53 Do you want to share your email alert? In your email, click on ‘View As Webpage’ l

It’s that time of year again. Most students will be back in class by the end of this month. Have you checked out the crime around your school? We took a look at crime around the top public schools in Baltimore City .  BPI/Western Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Western High School  Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Western High School are two different schools that share a campus.  Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, also referred to as BPI, Poly, or The Institute, offers a STEM curriculum. Western High School is the oldest public all-girls high school remaining in the US. Current Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake graduated from Western in 1988. The schools are located off of the Jones Falls Expressway and near multiple parks, the Baltimore City Zoo, and many private high schools including Roland Park, Gilman, Friends, and two Universities - Loyola and Notre Dame of Maryland. Check out the screenshot of recent crime near BPI and Western High School

Compared to a couple of years ago, there has been exponential growth in the number of cities opening up crime data. How should success be measured? We’ve checked out Chicago and Louisville - two cities who have been publishing crime data openly for a couple of years - to see what’s being done with data.  These cities are successful with crime data because: Not only is the data available to view without anyone having to ask for it or restrictions on the ability to collect, use, and share It’s being used by many different people, companies, websites, and apps! Not surprisingly, we aren’t the only crime map in town! In addition to SpotCrime, there are other privately run crime maps as well as news agencies digesting the data. And interestingly, crime mapping vendor websites that typically charge for services seem to be mapping Chicago and Louisville crime data for free.  By providing open crime data, and because companies like SpotCrime map crime for the public at no cos

Check out some screenshots from sites like Alexa , SimilarWeb , and Compete showing traffic and ranking comparisons of SpotCrime to three other crime mapping sites. SpotCrime is still the most visited crime mapping site compared to all other sites. This does not include traffic from our sister sites like MyLocalCrime and SpotCrime.info , traffic from our media partners like Gannett and Sinclair , or traffic from our Android and iPhone apps (which are are the #1 crime mapping apps on both the Google Play and iTunes app stores!) Below are screenshots from Similar web showing comparisons of SpotCrime, CrimeMapping, CrimeReports, and Raidsonline. SpotCrime as more estimated views, time spent on site and page views than all of the other sites. Below are screen shots from Alexa which shows that SpotCrime is ranked higher than all other sites - Globally and in the US. Finally, below are screenshots from Compete.com showing SpotCrime traffic twice the size of

To be honest, it’s not a very powerful tool. We believe public crime maps are just the bare bones. Engagement and open data are more powerful tools. Engagement is a key metric in determining if a product is successful or useful. We measure engagement by emails and visits. What good is a crime map if no one looks at it?  SpotCrime is the most visited crime mapping site in the US. We have over 1 million views a month to our website and send out over 8.5 million email alerts a month. We’ve been able to reach this size without charging residents or a single police agency and without taking any federal funding or grants. SpotCrime map on News4SanAntonio.com We’ve found that one email alert is sometimes forwarded on to 100 community watch members. Since we’re a free service and our main source of revenue is advertising and media partnerships with companies like Gannett and Sinclair , we have incentive to reach as many eyes as possible with crime information. The informati

The Open Data 500 is a list of 500 businesses compiled by The Governance Lab at New York University and is funding by the Knight Foundation . It’s the first comprehensive study of US companies that use open government data as a business resource to innovate. The list is subject to change as the GovLab learns more about each company and how they utilize open data. So some companies may be removed or added once all information is reviewed. SpotCrime is thrilled to be selected and featured as one of the companies.  Open data is free, public data that is available to anyone. SpotCrime utilizes open crime data at a bottom-up approach to compile the largest database of crime information nationwide. We've developed (just to name a few things) crime maps, emailed crime alerts and weekly crime alerts with tailored maps included, SMS alerts, as well as Android and iPhone apps. We are also one of thirteen Maryland companies featured.  The Open Data 500 isn’t just focused on crime d

Hello SpotCrime Friends! We just wanted to announce the release of our new SpotCrime Android App . ‘Finally!! SpotCrime for Android!’ is what you’re probably thinking. Yes, some of us Android users at SpotCrime are thinking the same thing too! Check out the official SpotCrime Android app at the Google Play store here . The app uses the GPS location on your phone to quickly show crime incidents that have occurred in the area you’re located. The app does cost $0.99, but, in our (completely unbiased) opinion, it’s totally worth it. If you don’t see crime data on the map , ask your local police department to be transparent with their crime data and SpotCrime will map it - for free. Remember, our websites and email alerts will always be free. And we don’t plan on ever charging police departments to deliver information to the public. Spot crime with SpotCrime, and get out of the crime spot. Don’t let anyone take your mojo! PS - Have an iPhone and now you’re jealous

We love our police officers, and so does Hollywood. Here's a list of the most notable police officers on the big screen and TV. Carl Winslow Reginald VelJohnson played many police characters. Carl Winslow was a Chicago police officer he portrayed in Family Matters. He also played Sgt. Al Powell in Die Hard and a jail guard in Ghostbusters! Find your Chicago SpotCrime map here . Police Inspector Harry Callahan aka Dirty Harry I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking "did he fire six shots or only five?" Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow you head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk? Find your San Francisco SpotCrime Map here . CHiPs Follows the adventures of Officer Baker and Officer Poncherllo, two CA Highway patrol officers. Find your California Spo

We’ve hit a new milestone after 6 years at this crime mapping business. We had over 1 million unique visitors to SpotCrime websites last month! One million visitors strong to a more informed and safer community. Thank you! This is another notch of achievement added to our mission of keeping the public informed with timely, relevant, informative, and useful crime information. We believe this number to be larger than all the other crime mapping companies combined, and note - we have never charged a police agency a penny. We’d like to thank some agencies for recently having the courage to move to an open data format for crime data. Being fully open with the public is a big step, and recent agencies that deserve attention are: Salt Lake City . Based on experience, we never thought any agency in Utah would be open with their crime data. Thanks for bucking the trend, Salt Lake! Alameda County, CA . The Sheriff’s office recently moved from a proprietary to open display of crime d

One of the main goals for SpotCrime is to get crime information to as much of the public as possible.  Engagement is our motto.  And you don't need to believe we are doing this out of the goodness of our hearts, we have a business model around our approach - like any news organization we have ads around the content we provide.  Get more people to view the content, and increase the amount of ads we can show.   Any system that provides incentives is susceptible to being gamed, and our ad model should be scrutinized just like any other.  However, since we do not charge police departments for the service and have no financial ties to the police agency, we ask that you measure your scrutiny with our independence and our success of reaching the public.  Currently, SpotCrime reaches more people with crime data than any other system in the world. We feel there are many benefits to encouraging police departments to be transparent and timely with their crime data.   And we are encourage

Here at SpotCrime, we've been mapping crime for over four years now and have learned a great deal about how crime data is reported from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.    Along the way, we've encountered some steep resistance to getting crime data open to the public.  Thankfully, many cities have been bitten by the ‘open data bug’ and have started delivering their public data openly without restrictions.  However, there are still some cities whose crime data is still immobilized by restrictions.  Those restrictions usually come in a form of Terms of Use limiting what you can and can not do with your public data.  Even after four years, it is still unclear to us why crime data intended for the public would come with restrictions. At SpotCrime, we've come to view crime mapping as a means to an end.  With the ultimate goal of getting relevant crime information to the public, increasing awareness, trust in law enforcement, and hopefully increasing the level of safety for each c

The MyLocalCrime Crime Map is an alternative and faster way to view crime data and get information around a specific address. The map pinpoints a specific address and shows crime data around that address. This allows a viewer to see a more localized and recent information for the specified area. Google maps are still used, however, the icon structure is different. Simple symbols represent each crime instead of pictures. If you hover over a crime, you can view the details and information. You can also find information below the map. Compared to SpotCrime, MyLocalCrime uses a more simple approach to get crime information out to citizens. If you are trying to do a more complex crime search, SpotCrime may be a better option, but for a quick view, MyLocalCrime works best. MyLocalCrime works with most browsers to determine your location instantly so in most cases you aren't required to put in an address to view information! Of course, a different address can still be viewed by usi

Do you lock up? 1. Are your doors locked while you are in the house? 2. Is your front door locked while you are in the backyard (and vice versa)? 3. Do you lock your doors when you leave the house for even a few minutes? 4. Do you pin your windows when you leave your house? 5. Are your basement windows locked or permanently secured with screws or bars? 6. Do you keep your garage doors closed and locked at all times? Does your home look occupied? 1. When you are gone for the evening, do you leave an outdoor and an indoor light on? 2. Do you leave a radio, TV, etc., on when your home is not occupied at night or d uring the day? 3. Wh en you go on vacation do you: • Have a neighbor watch your h ouse ? • Move drapes, shades, and

Making crime mapping that is accessible to the everyday citizen has only become possible in the previous few years. Without available low cost technologies like Google maps and high speed Internet, SpotCrime could not exist. Crime mapping and making it accessible relies on the integration of these new technologies that a few years ago were separate domains. Also, equally important is making sure that all the information on the website is up to date. This is where we rely on police and sheriff departments to provide us with information. For the most part, the police and sheriff departments have been extraordinarily helpful and accommodating. However, as will be whenever dealing with a large group, there will be some that refuse to share public data on crime. This is hesitance is somewhat understandable. Even though crime data is public data and I, too, admit that I would be skeptical if some company out of the blue requested that I send to them data on a daily basis.