If Rockville Central were a regular news outlet, we'd be gnashing our teeth and stomping on our cigars in the back rooms over the latest announcement that Montgomery County Police have unveiled a new deal with Public Engine to provide real-time, mapped crime reports.
Why? Because, dear readers, we provide the same thing for Rockville City police! [UPDATE: Just so it's clear, we don't do this for the police, we do it for the police blotters that the City issues. We actually do it for you!]
In order to see the Montgomery County reports, go to CrimeReports.com . . . click this link and you will be amazed.
In general, I take a dim view of government entities hiring outside firms to do what they ought to be doing anyway. But in this case I am all for it.
You see, this outfit is doing a better job than we ever could -- their business is dedicated to it. And so my hat is off to them. This service replaces (or should) the printed police blotters in the Gazette and elsewhere.
I understand that the cost to the County is about $200 per month for this service. I assume the data the department uploads, which they do nightly, is simply data they need to collect anyway and so it is not a further burden on a stretched department.
If anyone who works for the City of Rockville is reading this, I urge you to encourage the Department's decision makers to strike a similar bargain. The ease of public use is well worth the cost. If the City's department joined in, then Rockville residents could have a one-stop view of all crime reports in the area. (Because two separate departments cover our area.)
Meantime, I will continue to put together my mapped City police blotters.
But, readers, if you agree that the City should pursue something like this, please weigh in on the comments.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Happy To See Competition: Montgomery County Police Crime Reports Available Mapped
Tags:
crime,
government services,
opinion
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3 comments -- add yours!:
This is a good start but utterly useless right now. Note that we see only that a crime was commented and what type of crime it was. No time. No descriptions either of the crime or subjects. My guess is that this is not fully live yet owing to the " Additional Information Forthcoming"
Also of note and this should be stated my MCPD, You will notice allot of rapes and assaults at SGAH. Most inf not all these assaults didn't happen at the hospital. The hospital is the reporting location. In other words the location where the victim made the formal complaint to the police or in the case of rape the location where evidence was recovered.
Just trying to be helpful....
Good points, but I would have to disagree that it adds up to "utterly" useless. Just knowing the general area of incidents and the type is very helpful -- I do not need to analyze the statistics further to be able to make decisions about my own movements and general "radar level."
Also, the full system does not go live until Feb. 1, so there may be more information loaded in over the next few days.
Brad,
Great blog. I just wanted to clarify that because Montgomery County has agreed to be a "Foundation Partner" we are offering the service to them for free for 12 months. At the end of the 12 months, the price will be $199 a month (our standard price for departments of that size). As Foundation Partners, Montgomery County will provide us with valuable feedback to continue to improve the product.
I appreciate S's feedback as well. The "Additional Information Forthcoming" message is scheduled to be removed from the crime bubbles. We'll look into the reporting locations. I know that a similar problem happens with sex offenders. If you happen to share a zip code with a state prison (as a friend of mine does) you can be surprised at the number of sex offenders in your "neighborhood".
Thanks to both of you for the feedback. Over the next year I think you will see the site continue to improve.
Christian Faulconer
Chief Operating Officer, Co-Founder
CrimeReports.com
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