SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

Annapolis Police Chief fired, America’s murder rate, transparency in police misconduct cases, Alexa can now tell you about crime, and more… POLICE CONDUCT College town cops are part of the problem at Baylor, other football factories  (Orlando Sentinel) Annapolis police Chief Pristoop fired, mayor confirms. Dismissal comes after deadliest year in state capital's history (WBAL) Under Obama, the Justice Department aggressively pursued police reforms. Will it continue under Trump? (LA Times) Race and the Police use of Force Encounter in the United States (OUP) President Trump Meets With National Sheriffs’ Association (LawOfficer.com) Violence erupts in Paris suburbs over police sodomy case (USAToday) CRIME RATE America's murder rate is rising at its fastest pace since the early 1970s (Economist) Chicago Still Isn’t the Murder Capital of America (TheTrace) America’s Oldest Crime Victims (TheCrimeReport) Baltimore police to divert low-...

Baltimore consent decree agreement reached, de-escalation policy, FBI FOIA requests, body cams, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Major U.S. Police Groups Agree on De-Escalation Policy (TheCrimeReport) Baltimore, Justice Department reach consent decree agreement on police reform (Baltimore Sun) Suspected Orlando Cop Killer Markeith Loyd in Custody (NBC News) Police across the country looked at Standing Rock as a sort of law enforcement laboratory (MuckRock) Ohio Traffic Camera Law at Center of Heated Debate (GovTech) CRIME RATE 26% of Gun Homicides in Areas With 1.5% of U.S. Population (TheCrimeReport) 10 killed, 29 wounded in Chicago MLK Day weekend shootings (ChicagoSunTimes) Wife of Orlando Gunman Is Charged Under Antiterrorism Laws (NYTimes) New FBI data sheds light on one of San Antonio's most violent years on record (MySanAntonio.com) Why Do We Criminalize Young Victims of Sex Trafficking? (TheCrimeReport) Fighting Sex Trafficking Is ...

The  murder rate is on the rise , gun deaths in America are at an all time high , and cities like Chicago and Baltimore  are facing huge criticisms on policing tactics. Is the shooting epidemic across America's cities a  policing issue , policy issue, or cultural issue? This question is up for debate. What we do know is that it is imperative that the public know about and have access to this kind of crime data and information.  There is no federal repository for nationwide shooting data , so what does shooting data look like on a map? Check out SpotCrime. We’re the only major crime map to break out shooting as it’s own icon. Shootings in Chicago Chicago shootings Aug 12 - Sept 12, 2016 Rightfully so, Chicago is constantly under fire (no pun intended) for the large amount of shootings the city experiences daily . Chicago saw 65 shootings Labor Day weekend alone . The chief recently attributed it to a cultural issue rather than a policing is...

There are many problems plaguing police community relations right now. Running SpotCrime, it is something I think about often in terms of improving trust between the public and the police so that we all focus on the target of reducing crime instead of pointing fingers at each other. We identify this as improving the trust quotient between law enforcement and the community. I often want to draw inferences about transparency and the quality of policing. Truthfully, we have not explored the data in terms of finding anything statistical about this. Most of our experience is anecdotal. Intuitively, I think we can all agree that if a police department is making a sincere effort to be transparent with the public they are moving in the right direction.  We’ve seen crime data transparency within police agencies develop in a couple of different ways throughout the years. There are some agencies who still do not make an effort to be open and transparent with crime data, but typical...

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 ...

SpotCrime Crime Listing of Baltimore May homicides. To create your own SpotCrime Crime List click here . Our hometown of Baltimore saw absolute madness in May. We've put together a SpotCrime Crime Listing map of the homicides and shootings that we've been able to find, address, and map which occurred in May in Baltimore city. To view the entire list, click here . There are 39 incidents on this crime list. One incident is a quintuple shooting , multiple incidents list victims being shot multiple times. Most of the victims appear to be men, but there are a few women involved. The main weapon used is a gun, however there are a few stabbings listed. The Baltimore Sun reports 43 homicides, one of the deadliest months the city has seen since the 42 homicides that occurred in August of 1990, with 115 homicides to date in 2015. The Baltimore Sun also has a homicide map compiling homicide data from May. Check out their map here . NPR notes a 76% increase in shootings ...

Violence seems to be the answer for residents in the Windy City of Chicago. If you check only the 'shootings' icon on the SpotCrime map for the past month, your results will prove to be very alarming. Brought to attention from Chicago affiliate WGN , the city experienced 42 shootings since 7 PM Friday this past weekend. This comes to an average of 11 shootings a day in the past month, including a 1 year old who was shot in the shoulder Sunday evening. Google search the words "Chicago Shooting" and you won't come up empty handed. You'll find another story, among dozens, that trumps this past weekend--50 shootings over Father's Day weekend of this year. The majority of those shootings occurred on the South and West sides and are reported to be gang related. Chicago has recently lifted their hand gun ban by a Supreme court ruling in the McDonald v. Chicago case. Stay alert, stay protected and stay informed. Steer clear of violent areas (keep your child...

Here's a quick snapshot of recent shootings in Chicago . I used a date range from June 1 to June 16.