HPD unveiled an online map where you can see five crime types on a map and register for email alerts for crimes reported in your neighborhood. Mapped crimes go back 90 days.
The reports I've seen describe it as a feature of the HPD website, but it's nothing but a link to a third-party business called CrimeMapping.com. HPD is apparently giving CrimeMapping.com a data feed from its own database to populate the online map and provide the notification service:
http://www.crimemapping.com/map/hi/honolulu
Per KHON, HPD is happy that they're paying $100 a month for the service, and the contract is for a year. Personally, I can think of half a dozen local companies that'd love to provide the same service for free, just to have access to the data.
In fact, I think a case can be made that the data being sent out to CrimeMapping.com is technically public data, and should be made available to anyone. I bet my geek friends would love to mashup this stuff with other data sets and mapping tools to do some useful and creative things.
The reports I've seen describe it as a feature of the HPD website, but it's nothing but a link to a third-party business called CrimeMapping.com. HPD is apparently giving CrimeMapping.com a data feed from its own database to populate the online map and provide the notification service:
http://www.crimemapping.com/map/hi/honolulu
Per KHON, HPD is happy that they're paying $100 a month for the service, and the contract is for a year. Personally, I can think of half a dozen local companies that'd love to provide the same service for free, just to have access to the data.
In fact, I think a case can be made that the data being sent out to CrimeMapping.com is technically public data, and should be made available to anyone. I bet my geek friends would love to mashup this stuff with other data sets and mapping tools to do some useful and creative things.
Comment