York Regional Police Mapping Out Crimes

 
Via: Joe Fantauzzi 

York Regional Police has launched a new online map in an effort to arm you with information about where crime is occurring.
The map, which is hosted on the York Regional Police website, was launched today at the Richmond Hill police station. The initiative coincides with this year’s provincial Crime Prevention Week, which is focused on innovation and technology in crime prevention.
The point of the map is to provide an overview of criminal activity, rather than a detailed account, Deputy Chief Bruce Herridge said.
You can expect to see information about policing programs, break-and-enters, thefts, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles, homicides, assaults, sexual offences, arsons, missing persons, weapons offences, traffic enforcement and liquor and drug violations plotted on the map with clickable flags.
And you can customize the map to show you incidents in your community.
But not every crime will appear on the map, Deputy Chief Herridge said.
Domestic violence and family sexual assaults, for example, will not be posted. If an ongoing investigation results in an arrest, you may not see that plotted either, so as to not comprise the larger probe, he added.
Atop the map are crime prevention tips.
You will not see the specific address at which an incident takes place due to the privacy considerations. Rather, the map will plot incidents by block, according to police.
Typically, the map will be refreshed every 24 hours.
The map itself runs on software developed by U.S. company CrimeReports, which is being used by several other forces in Ontario including Ottawa, Windsor and Thunder Bay.
If you have any information about a crime plotted on the map, tabs allow you to send an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers, Sgt. Karen Hodge said. You can also e-mail the incident to a friend.
The force is also a strong supporter of community policing and the map is a tool with which it hopes to grow that, Staff Sgt. Jim MacSween said.
“The reality is, preventing crime is not just a police responsibility — it’s everyone’s responsibility,” he said. “We need the assistance of the community to succeed in preventing crime.”

Find the map at http://www.yrp.ca/crimemap.aspx

Posted via email from Markham Real Estate Today with Asif Khan