Free Crime Aggregator Will Provide Timely, Geocoded Information on Criminal Activity
To make detailed news about criminal activity in specific zip codes readily available to the public, SpotCrime – the largest and most comprehensive online source for crime data – is introducing CRIMELocal, a free crime news aggregator providing accurate, timely, geocoded crime information.
Using data and details about recent crimes from police departments and verified news reports, CRIMELocal enables users of the new app to search by zip code, immediately receive up-to-date information about all crimes reported in a designated area, and generate a map of recent criminal activity on SpotCrime. Users can then click on a “View Details” link, which will take them to the media outlet or police agency which originally reported on the crime to obtain additional information about the crime, victims, suspects, and more.
“By making data and details about local criminal activity readily available at a single source, CRIMELocal fills a huge void in the market,” says SpotCrime Founder and President Colin Drane, who created the new app. Noting that there are currently only two major news aggregators, neither of which provides comprehensive information about criminal activity at a localized level, Drane explains that CRIMELocal will also map crime and deliver alerts to users.
“Bottom line, by providing up-to-date details about actual crime incidents in specific zip codes, CRIMELocal will drive greater awareness and create a higher level of transparency among citizens, public agencies, and the media,” Drane argues. “Hopefully, that kind of activity will help to increase public safety and ultimately lead to the passage of new measures designed to reduce crime.”
Drane has been a long-time proponent of open access to crime data. He founded SpotCrime as a public facing crime map and crime alert service in September 2007. Through its proprietary model, SpotCrime collects crime incident data from multiple sources and plots it on a Google map to produce a comprehensive record of local crime information.
Since its launch, SpotCrime has become the most visited crime mapping website in the world, making it easier for communities to access and share crime data, and in doing so, become more proactive in the fight against crime. SpotCrime currently sends its 2 million subscribers more than 300 million crime alert emails annually, while over 60 million people interact with the crime information the company generates on a monthly basis.
Like SpotCrime, CRIMELocal is an independent and self-supporting entity. “CRIMELocal and SpotCrime do not take any outside funding and do not charge the public for the information we provide,” Drane explains. “Our sole intent is to make all relevant crime information available to the public, taking full advantage of the Internet to allow this data to be shared.”
For more information about CRIMELocal, visit www.crimelocal.com. For information about SpotCrime, visit www.spotcrime.com.
