SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

As our nation grapples with police violence and misconduct, transparency by law enforcement is critical now more than ever before. Failure to share data leads to mistrust, poor community relations and low accountability. In addition to a reduction to funding, new training and changes in law enforcement policies and procedures, production of a standard daily police blotter is another option that would improve transparency, allowing the public to better understand the crime in their community and ways police are responding. Recently, Congress passed the COVID–19 Hate Crimes Act , which requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish online hate crime reporting processes, collect data disaggregated by protected characteristics (e.g., race or national origin), and expand education campaigns. A second bill being considered, The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act , requires agencies to create a national registry—the National Police Misconduct Registry—to compile data on complaints an...

Feds fund mental health response teams, addressing the mental health of officers, reforming use of force practices, research showing body cams good investment, Houston chief focused on reforms and crime rate, Chicago sues gun store tied to 850 firearms involved in crimes, NYPD robot dog sent to the pound, Zoom court, and more... POLICE CONDUCT A former Georgia sheriff's deputy said he wanted to charge Black people with felonies to prevent them from voting, court documents show  (Business Insider) How Pa. troopers use sweating, stuttering during traffic stops to launch vehicle searches  (The Morning Call) Feds fund mental health crisis teams to stand in for police  (ABC News) see also:  “There Was No Plan in Place to Get Us Help”: Strategies for Improving Mental Health Service Utilization Among Law Enforcement  (Springer Link) St. Louis police group opposes move to cut 100-plus vacant officer positions  (St Louis Post Dispatch) US Department Of Education Now...

Arnold Ventures, a non-profit with focus on criminal justice reform, recently published the report “Because the Road to Reform is Paved by Data. CAMPAIGN FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA MODERNIZATION” . The report notes that effective police reform relies on gathering data in order to effectively assess the criminal justice system and support reforms and restore public trust. SpotCrime is no stranger to navigating the bureaucratic and technical divide between police agencies when it comes to collecting public crime data on a national level. All police database infrastructures are made up of different systems, making it hard to collect data on a national level. The report makes 6 recommendations, that we’ve included below, and outlines a total of 36 action items for anyone willing to tackle this problem and make data collection across jurisdictional lines seamlessly easy. The report asks for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to act as the overarching power to enforce data standards and pr...

Gun violence and mass shootings, looking at violence prevention programs, police mental health, extremists and racism in police ranks, use of force, police conduct, license plate readers, drones, police data lacks in domestic violence and hate crimes, treating substance abuse, and more... POLICE CONDUCT In Chesterfield, assaults on police and use-of-force incidents increased in 2020  (Chesterfield Observer) Dallas Activists, Police Officers Work Together to Offer Opportunity to Young Black Men  (NBC DFW) 'That's a massive mistake.' Police chief sounds off on lack of regular psych help for officers  (WXYZ) Pushing for police reform: Local police chiefs weigh in on recruiting challenges  (WXYZ) Transphobia, hostility about protesters in private cop group  (AP) see also:  From Insult to Estrangement and Injury: The Violence of Racist Police Jokes  (Academia.edu) 'A nightmare scenario': Extremists in police ranks spark growing concern after Capitol riot ...

Looking at data to prevent excessive force, software bug keeping people in prison, public health calls and policing, protests have led to decrease in police homicides, pandemic related spike in domestic violence across the nation, lowering violence without police, gun violence data transparency, and more...  POLICE CONDUCT Cities spend millions on police misconduct every year. Here’s why it’s so difficult to hold departments accountable.  (FiveThirtyEight) New research suggests that Black Lives Matter protests have led to up to a 20% decrease in police homicides  (University of Massachusetts Amherst) see also:  Policing, brutality, and the demands of justice  (Taylor and Francis Online) Can Good Data Improve Policing and Prevent Excessive Force?  (GovTech) and also:  Advocating for Justice: Case studies in combating discriminatory policing  (Academia.edu) Report: Spokane police more likely to use force against Black, Native American residents...

Justice in Policing Act, minimum wage, gun violence, mental health calls, inmate mortality rates, how terrorism transformed law enforcement, racial disparities in policing, legalizing marijuana, what caused the 2020 murder spike, and more... POLICE CONDUCT House to Vote on George Floyd Justice in Policing Act  (Milwaukee Community Journal) Why Cops Don’t Talk About Suicide  (TheCrimeReport.org) Dayton-area police agencies using special teams on mental health calls  (DaytonDailyNews) see also:  Orlando launching pilot program to send mental health professionals to nonviolent calls for service  (WFTV) and also:  Bello task force calls for expansion of mental health response programs  (Rochester City Newspaper) The Impact of Terrorism on the Transformation of Law Enforcement in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada Since the 1960s: The Relevance of 9/11 to the Thin Blue Line  (Academia.edu) "Good Cops Are Afraid." The Toll of Unchecked Police ...

Cities implementing different forms of police reform, AI tech ban, news deserts allow for corruption in SC, dropping crime rates in some cities, drones for deescalation, ending cash bail, COVID as a case for open data, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Consultant finds Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office ‘data rich, information poor’  (Santa Maria Times) South Bend Board of Public Safety approves use of force guidelines but demands more changes  (South Bend Tribune) Can a New, Open-Source Police Brutality Database Help to Hold Police Departments Accountable?  (Time.com) see also:  Civil Rights Groups Launch National Database on Police Use of Force  (CivilRights.org) Do as I Say! Or, Do as I Say, Not as I Have Done! County Sheriffs’ Self-Reported Accountability Priorities for Themselves and Their Subordinates  (Academia.edu) Black people make up most arrests for low-level crimes in Dallas, report finds Dallas Police Chief Eddie García said he wants to better unde...

Date and time is important when displaying crime data publicly for obvious reasons - the public needs to know when a crime occurred to better inform themselves. Additionally, date and time is important for any type of crime analysis over time. There are dozens of different ways to display a date and time. Every police agency addresses this differently in their crime data feeds. For example, some agencies include date and time in the same data fields, others break them apart into separate fields. Some include time, some don’t. Some write out the month, others use numbers. Some make note of the time zone, others use Unix time. Representing time is sometimes a minor headache, but not a necessarily difficult task. The SpotCrime Open Crime data Standard (SOCS) specifically addresses the date/time issue in open crime data by specifying that date and time to be split into two different data fields. The ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD standard is to be used for date and the UTC and 24 hour to be used for...

Police begin to change policies in order to secure budgets, facial recognition tech arrests wrong person, researchers denounce AI powered predictive policing, a call for body cam transparency, private companies selling your location data to law enforcement, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Chicago’s Peace Academy Graduates a New Class of Violence Interrupters  (The Trace) San Jose mayor releases nine-point police reform plan  (The Mercury News) see also:  Chief: '8 Can't Wait' already police policy  (The High Point Enterprise) and also:  Cincinnati Council To Vote On A Series Of Police Reforms  (WVXU) and  Colorado governor signs police accountability bill, ending qualified immunity defense in the state  (Efficient Gov) and finally:  3 Boston City Councilors Want To Divert Nonviolent 911 Calls From Police  (CBS Boston) 3 North Carolina police officers fired over racist rants  (Charlotte Observer) Transit agencies weigh security f...

Looking at line of duty deaths, botched police raid, teleworking during COVID19, DOJ awards funding to fight violent crime, some cities still struggling with violent crime during pandemic, economic impact of open crime data, and more... POLICE CONDUCT COVID-19 Line-of-Duty Deaths  (Fraternal Order of Police) see also  National Police Week| Recognizes those Killed in Line-of-Duty  (Fox Baltimore) IMPD will have body cams by this summer, implement ‘use of force’ review board  (FOX 59) Media coverage of police misconduct and attitudes toward police  (Academia.edu) Woman shot and killed by Kentucky police in botched raid, family says  (NBC News) City Manager: Police Officers Teleworked in Case of ‘Much Worse’ COVID-19 Situation  (ALX Now) Portsmouth police chief stands up to push-back on budget demands  (Seacoast Online) Crypto Companies, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Firms Team Up to Fight Human Trafficking  (Coin Telegraph) Man repeatedly pu...

Questioning the ethics behind facial recognition software, addressing gun violence, data boosts trust in public safety, dangers of constantly monitored society, spike in sextortion scams, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Fewer calls has local law enforcement focused on community policing  (SkyHiNews) Pandemic-era policing: Fewer crimes, but signs of rising stress  (Public Source) Smart Policing for Safer Cities: A Data-Driven Approach  (TowardDataScience.com) Q&A: Cameras, Police, the Dangers of a Constantly Monitored Society  (Berkeley.edu) Indianapolis Police Officer Shoots Man in Livestreamed Killing. Here's What to Know  (Time) New State Data Show 97 Percent Drop in Backlogged Rape Kits  (BCTV.org) San Francisco police chief bans 'thin blue line' face masks  (ABC News) CRIME RATE Link found between early post office locations and modern crime rates  (Phys.org) Gun Violence Reduction Programs Struggle With Long-Term Success  (IdeaStream) see...

Coronavirus continues to effect domestic violence, crime on subways, a call for researchers to embrace open crime data, looking at effectiveness and equity, GA no longer allows private companies to copyright the law, and more... POLICE CONDUCT Policing during a pandemic (Part 1): A new normal  (CCX Media) Life as a prosecutor during coronavirus: People spitting at grocery clerks, telling police they have COVID-19 during arrests  (CPR News) Effectiveness vs equity in policing: Is a tradeoff inevitable?  (Academia.edu) Baltimore police have seized 165 illegal firearms, arrested 19 murder suspects during coronavirus state of emergency  (CBS Baltimore) RPD, other agencies tracking calls for service over groups larger than 10  (WDBJ) Thousands of criminal charges delayed during the pandemic, Maricopa County data shows  (AZCentral) COVID-19: PGPD temporarily suspends beard policy and issues N95 masks to officers  (WJLA) CRIME RATE Not every...