A tip off about an interesting webmapping resource from the Vancouver Police Dept. (VPD) – GeoDash, and effort to to enhance community awareness of policing activity in Vancouver.
WMS Tip – Vancouver Police GeoDash Crime Map
Vancouver Police have launched a new crime mapping tool as part of the VPD’s commitment to be as transparent as possible and deliver those who live, work and visit Vancouver with accurate crime data.
GeoDash is a system that is intended to enhance community awareness of reported crime in Vancouver. Based on incidents reported to police, it provides current crime data allowing you to know about trends happening in your neighborhoods.
A quick use of the service shows a bus map of police activity within the Vancouver PD area. Crime incidents are located on the map with a unique icon to identify the kind of incident. Categories include: Break and enters, mischief calls, vehicle incidents, thefts and more. Users are provided with the option to search via neighborhood, address, or a location search. For example, one might want to search for all vehicle thefts from the Kitsilano area as an example (See map below) A date range can also be added to teh search parameters, for example, show past 2 weeks etc…
Webmaps – Vancouver Police GeoDash Crime Map – sample search results show vehicle theft incidents for the Kitsilano neighborhood over the past 2 weeks.
About the service:
The GeoDash interactive mapping tool is intended to enhance community awareness of policing activity in Vancouver. Users are cautioned not to rely on the information provided to make decisions about the specific safety level of a specific location or area. By using this service the user agrees and understands that neither the Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver Police Board nor the City of Vancouver assumes liability for any decisions made or actions taken or not taken by the user in reliance upon any information or data provided.
The data provided is based upon information contained in the VPD Records Management System.
Addressing privacy concerns:
For property related offences, the VPD has provided the location to the hundred block and plotted these incidents within the general area of the block. All data visualizations on the map must be considered offset and users should not interpret any visualization as related to a specific person or specific property
A truly fine community service, designed to help inform and engage the community in neighborhood policing activities.
See the service at http://geodash.vpd.ca/
See also the Vancouver Police Dept. homepage at http://vancouver.ca/police/ and connect with them on Twitter @vancouverpd