You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘technology’ tag.
Analystpedia is a new wiki site created by Deborah Osborne of Analysts’ Corner, “to capture and share the collaborative knowledge of crime intelligence analysts and relevant experts.” The site is new and looking for contributors. Membership is free for all crime analysts working in the public or private sector, students, professors, researchers, etc. Come share your knowledge, collaborate with other analysts, and expand the growing body of analyst knowledge.
Join Analystpedia here: http://analystpedia.wikispaces.com/
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
From GIS in Education:
The 2009 “cool schools” ranking listed 135 colleges and universities across the U.S. that are considered “Greenest Universities.” judged to be doing the most to help the planet. The judging was based from efficiency, energy, food usage, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste, and administration.
ESRI GIS Education has come up with the “Greenest Universities” database that you can download for free and map patterns that you want to see and study yourself.
Download the full data set (.zip) here: http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/disclaimer.cfm?DLfile=green_univs.gdb.zip
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Check out the latest video of CrimeReports in action. (Keep an eye out for the sweet smart board they use with Command Central—it’s like we’re in the movie Minority Report.)
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
I just saw that Stockholm, Sweden, now has a crime map. (Of course, the website is in Swedish, but that’s what Google Translator is for.) The site only lists 99 crimes for the last 2 months, but I imagine that if the map grows in popularity and local law enforcement sees the benefits of a public crime map, more and more information will appear.
Right now, the map is just a basic Google Map with only one marker type, and it’s not searchable, or filterable. But you can click a marker to find out more details about an incident; however, if you don’t speak Swedish, you might have to take your laptop to IKEA and see if you can get some help.
Check out the map here: http://eskapism.se/stockholmcrimemap/
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Our founder and CEO, Greg Whisenant, recently attended the Gov 2.0 Conference in Washington D.C., to discuss issues in government and technology. As part of the conference, Greg did a short presentation on citizen participation in government through web 2.0 tools like CrimeReports. The slide presentation was recorded and you can watch it below.
As well, Greg participated in a panel discussion about “Government as a Peacekeeper.” Which you can watch by clicking here.
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
A Minnesota woman recently sued and won a case against her local police for using a Taser on her in February 2008. The police awarded her $200,000 in damages for the incident that the woman says gave bruises on her wrists and arms and caused her to go on anti-anxiety medication. Although the police admit no wrongdoing in the case, such a large reward for even a slightly questionable Tasering, draws attention to the use of Tasers by law enforcement, and rekindles the debate about whether Tasers are “non-lethal” and if they should be used at all.
Taser Deaths
It is true that over 150 people have died after being Tased by law enforcement since widespread use started in 2001. And as the use of Tasers becomes more prevalent throughout the US, those numbers have risen more rapidly in the past few years. However, not a single death has actually been attributed to the Taser stun itself. In most cases there were other factors involved like drug use, preexisting injuries, etc. In fact, Taser International has never been found liable for the death of any person involved in a Taser-related incident. (Source)
Notwithstanding the clinical studies that show Taser has no effect to the body other than the initial 50,000-volt shock, victims’ advocates and civil rights groups protest that if the weapon has the potential to kill, it should be treated as a lethal device.
Tasers Provide Options
But there is a factor that these groups do not take into account: the use of a Taser as a non-lethal alternative to a firearm. Before the widespread use of Tasers, there were few alternatives to subduing a suspect between physical holds and a gunshot. Tasers offer police an alternative to using a firearm. Officer Jan-Leah Post of the Mountain View, CA, Police Department in front of a commission tasked with assessing the risk of Taser use in the department, recounted an incident where she used a Taser to subdue a large man. “This incident very possibly would have ended differently if I didn’t have a Taser,” she said. “Tasers, when used with strict regulations, allow me to go home at night to see my family and allowed [the suspect] to go see his family, once he got out of jail.” (Source)
Faced with the choice between shooting a potentially lethal firearm and deploying a non-lethal Taser, I would go with the Taser, but that’s just me.
Misuse
But the prevalence of Tasers has led to concerns over other problems. Because it is a non-lethal alternative to a firearm, some advocacy groups argue that a Taser’s very non-lethal nature has led law enforcement to be too quick to use it. It’s hard to forget the “Don’t Tase Me Bro” video where it appears that an obnoxious protester—already being subdued by six officers—is subsequently shocked with a Taser. There is a fear that instead of trying to talk to suspects, or use physical holds, police might be too eager to whip out their Tasers and subdue a suspect, saving time and aggravation.
Taser Training
But the answer is not a complete ban of Tasers by law enforcement. The answer is training and clear guidelines. For instance, in most departments across the US, Taser training programs require that the officer being trained to use a Taser must receive a Taser shock so that he or she will know the pain of being hit by a Taser and be less likely to use it as a quick and easy option. Also, creating clear guidelines for Taser use not only gives officers the rules and regulations of properly using a Taser, but it provides accountability for that officer in the event that they misuse it.
All in all, it is important to remember that although Tasers have been involved in some fatalities, the risk of being killed by a Taser is still far less than that of being killed by a firearm, and that margin gives police a real option for subduing suspects that will keep both the suspect and the officer alive.
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Over the weekend, QuieroPaz.org launched its Venezuelan crime map. I have argued in the past that implementation of crime mapping in third-world countries could help cut crime by giving the people access to crime information, and I think this is a step in the right direction.
Unless you speak Spanish, the site may be a bit hard to understand, but it does offer the benefit of linking individual crimes to stories in the media about those crimes. I’m not sure whether the crimes on the map come directly from local law enforcement or whether the map is made of data culled from media sources. However, from the prevalence of homicides over any other crimes (by a wide margin), I’m guessing that the site mostly collects data from media sources and does not display crime data directly from local law enforcement.
Still, this map is a start, and hopefully it will help local citizens and law enforcement track and stay informed about crime in their area so that they can keep themselves and their communities safe.
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
In a recent post titled, “Traditional Media Loses Grip on Local Crime Information,” I hypothesized that with the increase in law enforcement agencies providing citizens with direct access to crime data through Facebook, Twitter, CrimeReports, and other web tools the public may not need traditional media as a crime-reporting source anymore.
But I believe that the issue of direct data vs. traditional crime reporting is more complex than my simple conclusion seemed to express. The core of the debate is this:
If I (as a citizen) already have a direct feed of official crime data pertinent to my neighborhood through Twitter, CrimeReports, Facebook, etc., what would make me tune in to the nightly news or read the daily crime blotter in my local newspaper for crime information?
My first response is—nothing.
If I receive daily crime alerts from CrimeReports, and religiously check my local police department’s Facebook page, I would feel relatively informed about the crime situation in my neighborhood. But this does not mean that traditional media does not hold any value.
Context
First of all, print and broadcast media provide context to the data that law enforcement provides to citizens through these new web tools. As a citizen, I can track the handful of crimes that may happen in my neighborhood on a weekly basis, but I don’t know how my neighborhood fits into the bigger picture of crime across the city or the state. Traditional media has the time and resources to do the analysis and paint the bigger picture.
In addition, although many law enforcement agencies provide basic data through crime mapping and social media tools (i.e., Breaking and Entering, 9/5/09, 10:04pm). Traditional media has the ability to elaborate on those incidents (i.e., “Resident called 911 after hearing glass break. Neighbors report seeing a young woman in late teens or early twenties, fleeing the scene through the victim’s backyard,” etc.).
Contrast
Besides providing complex analysis that most citizens cannot or will not do on their own, traditional media can serve as a counter balance to the direct data coming from a law enforcement agency. Granted, most law enforcement agencies are more concerned with informing citizens than they are about providing a positive spin on the information they release, but traditional media can provide a different perspective on crime than one would get from just following the local PD on Twitter. And although newspapers and broadcast news are supported by advertising and have an incentive to increase readership/ratings, the perspective they provide can shed a different light on the data given out by local law enforcement agencies.
The Bigger Picture
Lastly, traditional media can offer a broader picture of crime than basic-level crime information. Although it has been my experience that most people are more directly concerned with crime on their block than they are with crime in the neighboring town, getting a broader picture of crime can also help raise awareness of trends in crime both locally and nationally. And awareness of broader crime trends is, as well, helpful in keeping citizens vigilant and safe.
A Difference in Scale
All-in-all, the main difference between using social media to get crime data and following traditional media for crime information is scale. CrimeReports and other crime mapping resources are very good at giving citizens a picture of crime in their neighborhood. Twitter and Facebook are excellent tools for local law enforcement to use to disseminate information and interact with a city, county, or town. But traditional media is probably the most useful for large-scale crime reporting.
Only one question remains: If citizens have a direct line to crime data on their street, will they still tune in to or read traditional forms of crime reporting to get the bigger picture? Since social media is only being used by a relatively small number of law enforcement agencies currently (although more are joining everyday), it’s too early to predict citizen’s reactions to these new information streams. My only hope is that citizens will access crime information on whatever level they feel comfortable so that they can stay informed and keep their neighborhoods safe through the greater vigilance that comes from increased access to crime information.
[Special thanks to an unnamed journalist for helping me tease out these ideas]
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Chief Art Acevedo, Austin PD
First, the Austin, TX, police shut down a Twitter account that was posing as the official Austin PD Twitter account and was sending out false information. Now they have been the target of an online smear campaign. According to Statesman.com, comments on local blogs and news media sties have been falsely attributed to the chief and other officers of the Austin PD, spreading false information.
The Austin PD views these actions as harassment and is looking for ways to track down and prosecute the offenders. The state recently passed a law that makes posting harmful, defamatory comments on a social networking site a 3rd degree felony.
Obviously, people who are falsely attributing their comments to police officers are not only frustrating police efforts and confusing the public, but they are dangerously spreading lies and damaging public confidence in law enforcement. But I think Chief Art Acevedo said it best: “Quite frankly, when [these] people are willfully misleading and lying, they are pretty much cowards anyway because they are doing so under the cloak of anonymity.” Well said.
Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/18/0918comments.html
Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Las Vegas, Nevada, has recently experienced a drop in crime, like much of the rest of the country. Some areas around the country attribute the drop in crime to the current state of the economy and others take credit for innovative crime-fighting initiates. But according to a recent story out of Las Vegas, the local police are crediting their drop in crime to the use of new technology, including crime mapping, and changes in their philosophy toward policing.
Has your agency thought about public-facing crime mapping? Get on the crime map at CrimeReports.com
Stumble It!
The Crime Map 