SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

Addressing gun violence, pattern-or-practice investigations, community-led responses to public safety, the rising homicide rate post Ferguson, undue influence of surveillance tech companies on policing, improving crime data to make better policy, transparency in police departments, and more... POLICE CONDUCT The People’s Response Act would establish a division within the Department of Health and Human Services to promote and fund community-led responses to public safety.  (NBC News) Richmond Police focus on community building to drive down crime  (LEX18) see also:  Cocoa police chief works to engage with community, be more data-driven  (FloridaToday.com) The Facts on Pattern-or-Practice Investigations  (CenterForAmericanProgress.org) New study ranks Kansas City Police Department one of the worst in the country  (KansasCity.com) American Policing and the Danger Imperative  (Wiley Online Library) Cops say low morale and department scrutiny are driving th...

The recent controversial encounters with the police and citizens in Ferguson, New York, Cleveland, and now North Charleston raise the question - does the way in which a police agency makes their crime data available determine the the quality of policing?  With the exception of Ferguson PD thanks to recent DOJ review , we can’t make claims about the quality of policing for North Charleston, Cleveland, or NYPD.  However, we do have enough knowledge to assess the quality of each agency’s stance on open crime data and make some inferences on how this affects public trust.  Based on the correspondence we’ve received from police agencies over the years, we think certain agencies may be telegraphing their commitment to community policing by how they release and respond to requests for public data.  In Ferguson, SpotCrime was getting open data access for a period of years, however the data stopped two years prior to the shooting of Michael Brown . We do not have...