St. Louis citizens interested in knowing where and what type of crimes take place throughout the city can now stay informed through a Web site designed by Saint Louis University’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The site, Safe City, is a searchable database that gives St. Louis residents the ability to trace crimes that have taken place in the city.
The Web site is based on the premise that the streets of St. Louis belong to the law-abiding people who live in and visit the city–not to criminals.
Safe City gives members of the public unprecedented access to information that will help them stay safe as they enjoy all that the city has to offer–from residential and entertainment districts to parks and museums.
“A better-informed citizen is able to participate more effectively in establishing and maintaining his or her own safety,” said James Gilsinan, dean of the College of Public Service.
The design for the crime-mapping site was developed in the GIS lab. Gilsinan and Gary Higgs, director of the lab, partnered with the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Police Department. University GIS lab employees and students spent four months designing the Safe City site.
Using crime report data from the St. Louis Police Department, the Web site is continually updated with the past two months of crime reports and police calls.
It allows citizens to type in an address and see the type and frequency of crimes that have been reported near that address. Citizens are also able to obtain the specific details of a crime or incident on the site.
Safe City was developed for a number of reasons:
* The crime-mapping site gives the police a tremendous new asset in fighting crime. Crime-mapping technology can help police spot crime patterns, arrest lawbreakers and prevent further crimes from taking place.
* Safe City gives members of the public a new source of vital information about the neighborhoods where they live, work and play. This serves as a source of education as crime-prevention and police reporting tips can be acquired.
* A more accurate picture of the crime situation in the City of St. Louis will be given through Safe City. A number of neighborhoods in the city are quite safe, assuming, of course, that one uses basic common sense. However, several neighborhoods still have high crime rates.
“With the knowledge available through this Web site, citizens can become full partners with the police and other community agencies concerned with safety and community improvement,” Gilsinan said.
Other cities, such as New York, Chicago and San Diego, have used computer-mapping technology to help reduce crime, but St. Louis is the only city in Missouri to use such technology.
Safe City was made accessible to the public two weeks ago. The Web site is receiving over 20,000 hits a day, Gilsinan said.
