SpotCrime - The Public's Crime Map

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

SpotCrime – the most comprehensive online source for crime data – has become the most visited crime mapping website in the U.S., surpassing 300,000 subscribers. The company currently sends subscribers 3.5 million email alerts monthly. With its media partners and multiple websites, SpotCrime estimates more than 6 million people interact with the crime data the company generates each month. “The more people are aware of what’s occurring in their communities, the higher the chance that community will be proactive in the fight against crime,” says SpotCrime Founder and President Colin Drane. “Our goal is for SpotCrime to distribute crime data worldwide, decreasing crime rates and increasing peace of mind.” Through its proprietary model, SpotCrime pulls crime incident data from multiple sources, including state and local police departments and validated news sources, to produce a comprehensive record of local crime information. Drane estimates that SpotCrime will hav

SpotCrime has over 100 media partners across the United States, and we're working hard every day to increase our data and media coverage. Check out the map below to see where our media partners are located: SpotCrime has partnerships with the top stations in their respective markets. Our media partners host SpotCrime maps directly on their websites with crime data for the area. These are some of the media sites that SpotCrime is currently partnered with: Newport/Inergize stations like KGET (Bakersfield, CA) and KMTR (Eugene, OR) Belo stations like WFAA (Dallas, TX) and WCNC (Charlotte, NC) Tribune stations like KTLA (Los Angeles, CA) and KDVR (Denver, CO) KY3 (Springfield, MO) and KPIX (San Francisco, CA) and many, many more. Know your neighborhood with SpotCrime! Sign up for free daily crime alerts today.

SpotCrime is receiving data from the Germantown Police Department . Germantown is part of the greater Memphis area and has a population of about 40,000 people. We are mapping crimes assaults, burglaries and other crimes for the entire area. Check out the interactive Germantown map at the link below. http://spotcrime.com/tn/germantown SpotCrime provides free daily crime alerts by text message and email. Konw your neighborhood with SpotCrime.com .

SpotCrime now has a map for Burleson, Texas with crimes provided by Burleson Police Department . We are mapping assaults, shootings, robberies and other crimes for the entire city. SpotCrime has different search features to find the info you want. You can search by date range, crime type, and/or keyword. Here's a snapshot of thefts for the 2nd quarter of 2010: Click here to view our interactive Burleson crime map and sign up for free crime alerts.

SpotCrime is now receiving regular crime data from the Richardson Police Department . We are mappings serious crimes such as shootings, assaults, robberies and thefts for the entire city. The picture above shows the vandalism reports for the 2nd quarter of 2010. SpotCrime maps allow you to search for the exact information you want. Limit the crime type, date range or address that you would like to search and you will see only that information! Click the link below to view the Richardson crime map. http://spotcrime.com/tx/richardson As always, SpotCrime provides free daily SMS and email alerts. Know your neighborhood! Register at www. spotcrime.com .

SpotCrime is mapping serious crimes for the entire area of Madison, Alabama. The data is being provided regularly by the Madison Police Department . Police are cracking down in Madison. According to our maps, police have made several DUI and assault arrests in the first half of 2010. Check out our crime map by clicking the link below. http://spotcrime.com/al/madison Sign up for free crime alerts! As always, SpotCrime provides free daily SMS and email alerts. Know your neighborhood!

SpotCrime is now receiving daily crime data from the Tampa Police Department . We are mapping serious crimes and 911 calls for the entire Tampa area. Those question marks on the map aren't unknown crimes... they actually represent crimes that fall into the Other category. SpotCrime classifies crimes as arrests, assaults, thefts, burglaries, shootings, vandalisms, arsons and robberies. All other crimes get mapped as Other. According to our SpotCrime Tampa map, several of those crimes are domestic disturbances. Click the link below to view our interactive map and search the latest data. http://spotcrime.com/fl/tampa SpotCrime provides free daily crime alerts by text message and email. Sign up today and know your neighborhood!

SpotCrime is now receiving regular crime data from the Danville Police Department . We are mapping crimes like shootings, thefts, burglaries and assaults for the entire town. Crimes fall into nine categories on the SpotCrime map: Arrest, Arson, Assault, Burglary, Robbery, Shooting, Theft, Vandalism and Other. Crimes that fall into the Other category range from suspicious activity to trespassing and domestic disturbances. Follow the link below to view the interactive Danville crime map and search the latest crimes. http://spotcrime.com/ca/danville SpotCrime provides free daily crime alerts by SMS and email. Register today to receive up-to-date crime info for your city. Know your neighborhood!

SpotCrime is pleased to announce that we are now receiving crime data from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office . We are mapping crimes for multiple cities within Pinellas County, including St. Petersburg, Pinellas and Clearwater. Our SpotCrime map indicates that there have been several assault/battery report in Pinellas County within the last few weeks. These crimes are indicated on the map with the fist icon. Click here to search our interactive map for Pinellas County. SpotCrime provides free daily crime alerts via email and text message. Sign up today to receive up-to-date crime information about your neighborhood.

SpotCrime is now receiving crime data from the Millington Police Department . We have coverage for the entire area. Click the link below to view our interactive map. http://spotcrime.com/tn/millington As always, SpotCrime provides free crime alerts by email and text message. Stay informed about crimes happening in your neighborhood!

SpotCrime has coverage in Brookfield, IL. You can now view crimes for the entire metropolitan area. Click the link below to see view the SpotCrime map and start searching for recent Brookfield crime info. http://spotcrime.com/il/brookfield Keep checking back with us to see which cities we're adding next! As always, SpotCrime provides free daily text and email crime alerts. On Facebook? Become a Spotcrime.com fan!

The following cities are being mapped in near real time on SpotCrime: Tampa Ocala Eugene Milwaukee Orlando Tulsa Charlotte In each case, the local Police Department and/or the 911 Call Center is making the call data available to the public with no restrictions. SpotCrime is identifying the crime related events and mapping them- typically on an hourly basis. Additionally, SpotCrime then provides the information to the public at no cost to the police department or the public through RSS and Twitter. Email and SMS crime alerts are also available.

Elyria, Ohio, founded in 1817, is the county seat of Lorain County. According to the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 55,953. SpotCrime is proud to feature up to date information for Elyria on our maps. Please click on the following link to see a fully interactive crime map. http://spotcrime.com/oh/elyria As always, SpotCrime provides free crime alerts by email and text messages. Know your neighborhood with SpotCrime.com

While uploading data this weekend the SpotCrime team noticed an interesting trend in Baltimore crime patterns. It is a known fact that the City of Baltimore is no stranger to gun violence. Below is a map containing all incidents of shootings from September 2009 up to yesterday Sunday, November the 15th. In total 273 have occurred since September 1st. This is a map containing shootings from Monday November 9th to Friday November 13th: There is a total of 6 shootings. 1 on Monday. 1 on Wednesday. 2 on Thursday. 2 on Friday. Below is a map containing the shootings for Saturday and Sunday: There are a total of 7 shootings for a 2 day period. Through this comparison we are able to deduct that gun violence is more prevalent in the Baltimore area during weekends; although any reasons we can give are merely speculative. As always, SpotCrime provides free crime alerts by email, text messages and through the SpotCrime iPhone application for Baltimore. Know your neighborhood, stay safe with SpotC

Grand Prairie, Texas is a city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 153,812 as of 2006 and the town has been a center of the aviation and defense industry since World War II. SpotCrime is proud to feature up to date information from Grand Prairie on our maps. Please click on the following link to see a fully interactive crime map. http://spotcrime.com/tx/grand prairie As always, SpotCrime provides free crime alerts by email and text messages. Know your neighborhood with SpotCrime.com

10.27.09, 10:09 AM EDT Can Colin Drane create the AccuWeather of criminal data? Colin Drane recalls an odd crime spree that unfolded near his home in Baltimore a few years ago: Neighbors' copper downspouts were suddenly disappearing. As the thefts grew, he reasoned that if his neighbors could see a map denoting exactly where the gutter bandits were operating, preventive action could be taken. Drane awoke one morning with the idea of using his car's global positioning system as a model--until he discovered that it, too, had been stolen. Since then, Drane, an informercial marketer and inventor of products like the Trunkanizer (organizes groceries in your trunk) and the Invisilift (enhances a woman's bustline) has watched his most successful invention, SpotCrime, rocket to success. The self-financed venture, which has cost him $800,000 to launch, places widgets and ticker feeds of crime data on the Web sites of 90 television news stations in the U.S., Canada and U.K. The digit

Click This Link for an interactive crime map. 05/07/2009 - Robbery - 2400 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY A man robbed a River City Bank. The man entered the bank, brandished a handgun and demanded cash. View Details View Source 05/15/2009 - Robbery - 5565 Hendersonville Road, Fletcher, NC A man armed with a semi-automatic pistol held up United Services Credit Union at 5565 Hendersonville Road in Fletcher on Friday. View Details View Source 05/28/2009 - Robbery - 4408 Forest Dr, Columbia, SC, SC 28 May 2009: Wachovia Bank, Forest Acres, South Carolina The suspect enters the banks without any disguise or attempts to conceal his identity from surveillance video. He is very aggressive in his robberies and brandishes a black semi-automatic handgun. After receiving the cash, he flees through the front doors. According to two reports out of state, he has possibly fled in a white Ford F-250 truck or a black Ford Bronco II. View Details View Source 06/19/2009 - Robbery - 651 Johnnie Dodds Blvd,

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.