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Information is power. Geographic information is information, turbocharged. While privacy is certainly a major issue we need to deal with as geographic information becomes mainstream, geographic information is a fantastic tool for fighting crime.
Just this week, another crime-fighting GIS website was announced. Witness Confident, a charitable organization based in London, introduced streetviolence.org, a website for reporting crimes in your neighborhood. While the initial service is focused on London, Witness Confident is interested in hearing from other geographic regions.
According to the witnessconfident.org website, streetviolence.org buy enabling:
- victims of street robberies and attacks to contact the police online, post witness appeals and alert their community,
- witnesses who can help, to contact the investigating officers at the click of a button,
- people to better see whether any incident poses a real threat to them or the family,
- the police to update posts with links to CCTV and photo-fits and with news of arrests and convictions, and
- the public to have fresh meaningful information about street violence (whether reported to the police or not).
An interactive map displays the reported incidents.
Some other crime-related GIS websites and technology:
GPS Foils $86,000 Bank Robbery
Applying GIS Technology to Crime Analysis
Colorado Bureau of Investigation Convicted Sex Offender Site
