Danville upgrades web map of crime - GoDanRiver.com

An upgraded online crime map released this week will help Danville residents learn more about their community as well as aid law enforcement in collecting tips from the public, police and city leaders say.

“The city values transparency in everything that we do, and we feel like the crime map is a useful tool for citizens to know about what’s happening in their neighborhood and their community,” said Danville City Manager Ken Larking.

The map is a partnership between the Danville Police Department and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, an analytics company.

Scott Longerbeam, GIS coordinator for the city’s information technology department, said the new crime map lets users sign up for several types of email and mobile alerts, as well as providing visual data on neighborhood crime statistics.

“It gives you a better way to visualize what’s actually happening in the community,” Longerbeam said.

The new map software will replace the city’s in-house crime map, which was implemented three years ago.

“The challenge that comes with that is constant maintenance,” Longerbeam said, explaining that a staff of two people had to make sure the map was up and running all the time.

The site also helps law enforcement stay abreast of anonymous crime tips.

“By viewing the site’s map, citizens can stay informed about local crime events that occurred as recently as one day ago,” Danville Police Department Maj. Chris Wiles said. “They can sign up for neighborhood watch reports that automatically email a breakdown of recent crime activity, and they can submit an anonymous tip about a crime directly to the Police Department.”

Longerbeam said dozens of other localities are on the new system, and users can compare and contrast crime and call for service statistics.

“It does at least give you locally an idea of what’s going on,” he said.

The new system offers the city the same stability and the same quality of local data, Longerbeam said.

Additionally, the new system is free to every municipality that uses it. LexisNexis offers the service as a way to promote their brand to private companies and other clients.

“It was a great way to put that info out there with not extra cost to the city,” he said.

The new system organizes crime data on a map, grid and a dashboard. Each incident includes type of crime, location type, city block-level address and date and time.

Residents can access the crime map at http://ift.tt/2edfSzf and clicking on Danville from the drop-down menu. A tutorial for the website is also available on Danville’s YouTube channel.

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