Arlington Crime On A Map For All To See: Police

ARLINGTON, MA — There's a new way to get your crime news in town.

As more and more police departments across the country work to utilize the data they have on where, when and how often crime happens in their communities Arlington's Police Department has taken the step of unveiling a new Community Crime Map. The map tracks and analyzes crime data and can alert Arlington residents about crimes in their neighborhood, according to Police Chief Frederick Ryan in a press release on the town's website.

The project is part of a recent partnership with LexisNexis Risk Solutions to provide a new way for the public to stay informed about crime, according to the release. But it also highlights a transparency trend among police departments across the country, including in Arlington.

The idea is that the new service will help prevent crime, improve public safety, and further enhance community-police partnerships. There is also an option to submit anonymous crime tips to the department.

“This service highlights the Arlington Police Department’s unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability, and together with our community partners this tool will empower us to further prevent crime in our community,” said Ryan in the statement.

Anyone can check out the map or look at a grid with all of the crimes in the town or zoom in to a particular neighborhood, sign up for neighborhood watch reports that automatically email a breakdown of recent crime activity, and submit an anonymous tip about a crime directly to the Arlington Police Department.

Crime Map is supposed to automatically sync with the Arlington Police Department’s Records Management System to keep crime information updated online quickly and efficiently. However a search performed shortly after the department announced the map showed no crime reported in the past two days.

UPDATE Nov. 20: A representative from the Arlington Police said they purchased its crime mapping software with capital funds in 2016. It took approximately six months to get the map up and running. Police said they're not sure what happened the first couple of days, when there was a delay in the data, but it's since been corrected and info is being synced within 24 hours.

The map geocodes all crime data (but it does not show info on sexual assaults and aggravated assaults that relate to "or could relate to domestic violence" according to an email from Arlington police), then displays all of the incidents visually on a map, grid and analytics dashboard along with some basic information about the incidents, including the type of crime, location type, block address, date and time, according to the press release.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions based in Atlanta, GA, is an analytics provider for organizations seeking actionable insights to manage risks and improve results with a eye for security and privacy.

The crime map? online at arlingtonma.gov/crimereports

Is Arlington the first?

Crime maps aren't new to policing, but over the past few years an increasing number of police departments are making new use of their data - and sharing it with their communities.

Some of it is part of a continuing police transparency initiative linked to the Obama Administration’s Police Data Initiative, which began in 2014 and worked to create trust between residents and police after a series of national use of force confrontations by police.

Across the country, more than 50 police departments have committed to the initiative since it was instituted.

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