Chuck Welch, over at LakelandLocal.com, took our weekly significant events crime report from last week and generated a crime map using Google Maps to show the location of each reported crime. His interactive map displays a pin marking the location of each crime, and hovering over the pin brings up a textbox describing the offense.
We appreciate his suggestions to enhance our weekly crime report and are moving forward to make those improvements on our blog.
-Asst Chief Bill LePere
I appreciate (1) that you released the report and (2) it was in a format citizens could use to make something like the map.
When government agencies are as forthcoming with information as possible, citizens develop a greater trust in the agency. Whether they're city councils, police departments, or even the public library.
I think releasing information in a method that could be remixed by any citizen, like I did with the map, is a major forward step for the LPD. And one I hope is emulated by every city department.
Who knows what sort of useful map/report/graph someone will come up with next?
Posted by: Chuck Welch | March 18, 2007 at 09:27 AM