Arundel crime map
Today the Baltimore Sun is launching a new crime map for Anne Arundel County, and we hope to replicate this for the city and other suburban jurisdictions. This goes far beyond our existing city homicide map, with automatic weekly feeds from Arundel police straight from their communications office.
It has been a mantra of this blog that citizens are poorly informed about crime in their neighborhoods, sparking confusion, rumor and fear. Some city neighborhood groups restrict the crime information they get for paying members, leaving out adjacent communities whose residents might both benefit from the information and help catch the criminals.
Many people feel the cops downgrade or don't report crime in order to make the city appear safer than it is. Some community groups have detailed listserves with lots of crime; others seem to struggle to report shed break-ins to their members.
The information is out there; assembling it can be quite a task. I'm of the position that the crime data should come from the police. This is public information and there is excuse in this day an age not to post it all on the Internet, almost as it comes in. I'm not talking about entire police reports or secretive investigative files. I'm talking about the break-ins and assaults, the car thefts and the drug arrests, the shootings and the vandalism.
Here's an example of what's available. This is from a source, from the Baltimore County Police Department's "Weekly Significant Events Report" dated Tuesday, Oct. 21. It includes crime from Precinct 6 from Oct. 13 through Oct. 19: It tells me that on Oct. 14, at 3:45 a.m., "The suspect entered the lobby, jumped over the counter, and pointed a handgun at the clerk. The suspect immediately went to the cash box and removed $400. The suspect then ran to a silver Nissan Maxima that was waiting on the parking lot." There are many more; this was just one example of information that is assembled but often seems so elusive to the public.
That's the kind of information people would love to have about each and every crime. The Arundel map might not have that kind of detailed information, but will allow readers to get a comprehensive look at crime in their county, their neighborhood and their street. And the good news is that after months of talking with departments, Baltimore County and Baltimore City might join this effort.
Some departments, such as Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford counties, already give out crime information to a private web site that charges the government to collect and map the crime. The Baltimore Sun does it for free, as a public service, and because we feel that having the information is better than not having it. Citizens should soon be able to map out crime trends as they see fit, with the data coming from a single, reliable source.
This endeavor has not been easy. Many departments are reluctant to share this data. Some are worried about opening computer lines between the newspaper and their secure servers. But we overcame that with Arundel -- they dump to us. This also could help the departments where officials are inundated with requests for crime stats. Most people will be satisfied with the maps on line, and when they want more, will at least be able to narrow their request that will make people on both ends happy.
Enjoy the new toy, and let's hope to get other departments on line as quickly as possible.
Comments
Neat! Thanks, Peter.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | October 23, 2008 8:53 AM
Mr. Hermann,
I just wanted to thank you for your work on the online crime map. I believe that a critical step in dealing with the crime problems in this state is to have the tools available for citizens to see where crimes are occurring. It is hard to develop solutions if you do not even know the exact nature and extent of the problems. As a 15 year resident of Baltimore City, I would like to see a system like the one you have created for AA County available for the city and the rest of the state.
Posted by: Ethan Kazi | October 23, 2008 9:57 AM
It appears these statistics are for the county sans Annapolis City. You may wish to clarify this point to the readers, particularly considering a significant number of serious crimes occur within Annapolis city limits.
Posted by: Sarah | October 23, 2008 11:13 AM
Well done. Is there any way to track information month to month, or quarter to quarter?
I know that's a lot of information to parse and display visually, but it would provide the user with a much better representation of their community, and if law enforcement actions are making an impact in the long term.
Posted by: David | October 23, 2008 11:50 AM
Hi, this is Peter Hermann,
We ran into a problem displaying monthly and yearly display data -- I'm told computers crashed under the weight of the data. We're trying to break out some crime categories, such as homicides, for yearly reviews. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by: Peter Hermann | October 23, 2008 11:54 AM
Probably mentioned here before, but here's Baltimore City's map: http://www.baltimorepolice.org/your-community/crime-map
Posted by: Citizen | October 23, 2008 12:34 PM
It would be great to read more about drug related crimes in this community. substance abuse is basically at the root of most of our societal ills, it's about time to publish it!
Posted by: Kevin Burns | October 23, 2008 4:06 PM
In response to David:
Maps are some of the most effective ways to convey data, provided they are done right.
This data is tracked weekly in Baltimore City, and it is continuously mapped by the police department. Compiled data is routinely analyzed when the city makes policy decisions like where to focus deployments, flex squads, VCID units, Safe Streets initiatives, and even police CCTV cameras.
It is a major tool in the city's crime fighting efforts.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2008 10:41 PM
Excellent tool, and thanks to The Sun and the Anne Arundel County police, but may I offer some constructive criticism?
My community of Brooklyn Park is not included on this map. Baltimore is, which is a common mistake because Brooklyn Park has a Baltimore zip code. We are not part of Baltimore. We live in Anne Arundel County. Worse, when I click on Baltimore, downtown pops up, so I get no information on my community that would be very useful to my community association.
Please correct this. If you need Brooklyn Park's boundaries for the mapping, they are: Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard to the west, the county line to the north, Sixth Street to the east and the Beltway to the south.
Thank you.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 24, 2008 6:02 AM
Allowing users to view data over a longer period of time (monthly, quarterly and annually) would be extremely helpful to view crime trends and statistics. This information could be displayed as summary data if you are having technical challenges. There are database and programming techniques that can be used to make all this work without causing any computers to burst into flames.
Posted by: Ethan | October 24, 2008 10:56 AM
Thanks for your comments Ethan. We are trying to expand the search in some categories. I hope that soon not only will that be done, but we'll have other departments up as well
Posted by: Peter Hermann | October 24, 2008 11:10 AM
I just located what appears to be a great resources: http://www.spotcrime.com/md/baltimore
Not sure where they get the data, but very refreshing to see information beyond murder...After all most residents who are not criminals in the city probably find violent crime stats much more relevant then murder stats...
Posted by: adam S | October 26, 2008 10:14 PM