GPD releases crime mapping system

The Graham Police Department and LexisNexis Risk Solutions partnered to provide a community crime map to keep the public informed about crime within the city.

GPD Chief of Police Brent Bullock and Sergeant Chris Denney spoke about the program during the city council meeting Thursday, explaining why the department decided on the partnership.

“We partnered with LexisNexis Risk Solutions trying to do something to keep the citizens more informed about the crime that is going on either in their neighborhoods, or Graham as a whole,” Bullock said.

The program is free to the city of Graham, which already utilizes services from LexisNexis, Denney said. It maps and analyzes crime data and can send alerts to citizens regarding area crimes.

“We provide them realtime data, so they are actually getting, a little delayed, but pretty much realtime data within a few hours of when they type a report in,” Denney said.

The system syncs with GPD’s records system and will keep crime information updated online and through their mobile application, according to a press release by GPD. The system organizes and geocodes the crime data and displays the information on the map, grid and analytics dashboard.

Denny said the information on the website additionally allows the department to see trends in crime data within the city. On top of being free for the city, he said the program is used nationwide to help law enforcement agencies with investigations.

“A lot of the cities, that have used it, have been benefiting because a neighbor will see something, but won’t know that was suspicious vehicle because the neighbors don’t really talk anymore, but when they get the alert they will go ‘well I saw a white ford pickup truck sitting down the street,’and then they will notify us,” he said. “And a lot of times the departments have actually developed leads based on this software program.”

The map can be found at www.communitycrimemap.com, and community members can sign up for neighborhood watch reports which with email compiled versions of recent crime activity. Residents can also submit anonymous tips about crime to GPD through the website.

“Neighbors can sign up for the alert, so if there is a crime in your neighborhood it makes you aware of it, that there has been some type of crime,” Denney said. “You can actually go to the map, highlight it, (and) it won’t give you the address of where it occurred, but it will give you the 100 block. It will give you the basic information, it will give you a case number (and) everything we do it pretty much open records anyway unless it is a current investigation, so they are entitled to that information.”

For the rest of the story, see the Saturday, Oct. 5 edition of The Graham Leader.