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, it is available without 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 cost, most government vendor companies have dropped their public crime mapping costs to zero.
The benefits to open data are twofold. The city’s costs are lowered because more websites consume the data for free, and there are a variety of different outlets for the public to access the data, increasing public awareness and public safety.
The list of crime related sites, maps, and apps in Chicago and Louisville are below. Which is best? Each map is a different way to see the data and dig through it. Some maps incorporate things like street view capabilities, real estate information, sex offender information, demographic data layers, news stories, or comments and input from the public. The ruling on ‘best crime app’ should be left up to the viewer.
Chicago
Chicago is publishing dozens of open data sets via a Socrata portal.
Crime maps in Chicago include:
SpotCrime – includes SpotCrime.com, SpotCrime.info, MyLocalCrime.com, and apps for Android, iPhone, and Kindle Fire
CLEARMap (run by Chicago PD)
CityProtect (vendor site)
In addition to incident based crime data that SpotCrime collects and maps, Chicago is also publishing public safety data sets like sex offenders, historical data, police stations, and Safe Passages program data.
Here are some other sites utilizing Chicago public safety data:
Louisville
Louisville publishes open data sets via a Drupal portal.
Crime maps in Louisville include:
SpotCrime – includes SpotCrime.com, SpotCrime.info, MyLocalCrime.com, and apps for Android, iPhone, and Kindle Fire
CrimeMapping (vendor)
In addition to incident based data SpotCrime uses, Louisville is also publishing public safety data sets like assaulted officers, citation data, police districts, sex offenders, and traffic collisions.
Here are some other sites utilizing Louisville public safety data:
Next Steps
What are some next steps to think about for these cities? Standardizing the data will help with collaboration between neighboring jurisdictions. Crime doesn’t stop at a city’s boundary. Standardization will in turn help get more agencies on board with open crime data, increasing public awareness and public safety.
Trying to standardize your city’s public safety data? Make sure to check out the SpotCrime Open Crime Standard (SOCS).
Brittany Suszan 