CrimeReports.com: Cool Site of the Week

by Jay Thompson on June 3, 2009 · 29 comments
Written by: Jay Thompson

in Site of the Week

Crime Reports Logo

We get lots of questions on crime statistics.

There are a plethora of sites across the web to find information on crime, but recently I discovered CrimeReports.com, which seems to be one of the better sites around for gleaning all sorts of information related to crime, traffic accidents, pedestrian stops, you name it – whatever the police are called out for, you can find it on CrimeReports.com (even deaths, which seems kind of creepy).

That is if your local police department subscribes to the service.

The site reports they currently have about 400 jurisdictions signed up, with more on the way. In Arizona, only Gilbert, Lake Havasu City, Show Low and Snowflake-Taylor are participating. (Yes, there really are towns in Arizona called Show Low and Snowflake.) California looks to be well covered. If you are residing in North Dakota or Vermont, you are out of luck for now.

Local Police Departments feed reports directly to the site, which are then displayed on a Google map with icons representing different crime categories. The user can zoom in and out of the map, and pick and chose different categories and date ranges to display.

Here’s a screen shot for Gilbert, AZ:

CrimeReports Screen Shot
Clicking on each icon will reveal limited information about the “event” (of note, for privacy reasons no personally identifying information is displayed).

You can also sign up for an account (free) and set up alerts that will notify you of whatever crime types you select. I set one up using my address and told the system to send me weekly updates for anything reported within a mile of my home.

Pretty cool stuff.

How did I find out about this site / service?

Crime Reports Our Accident

Yep, that would be where some truck made an illegal left turn into Francy’s car to the tune of $3,123 and nine days in the body shop… Fortunately no one other than the Altima was hurt.

If the area you are thinking about buying a home in has a participating law enforcement agency, then CrimeReports.com is a nifty little site for investigating all sorts of stuff about your neighborhoods of interest.


 

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St. Louis County Crime Map is Overdue | Arch City Homes
June 14, 2009 at 9:53 am

{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Jason Sandquist June 3, 2009 at 5:33 pm

hmm… thinking it would be a wise choice to avoid making an appearance on this one ;-)

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2 Heather June 3, 2009 at 5:33 pm

The Thompson clan have had one heckuva run of bad luck with cars lately! You could single-handedly prop up GM.

**Heather´s last blog post..Loan Modification Scams

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3 James Wheelock@Spring Trails June 3, 2009 at 6:18 pm

@Jay – Thanks for pointing out this site. What do you think would be the liabilty taken if agents were to post such information about neighborhoods in their service area?

**James Wheelock´s last blog post..$132,500 :: 6622 Bluestone Springs Ln, Spring TX, 77379

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4 john@bisnis internet June 3, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Yeah, I check the CrimeReports.com, and this is a cool site, thanks for sharing ! :)

**john´s last blog post..Forum Support bisnis di internet

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5 PabloIV June 3, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Coverage seems a bit spotty. I guess it has a lot to do with how much the departments are willing to cooperate.

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6 Joe@Augusta GA Homes June 4, 2009 at 5:30 am

We’re SOL here in Augusta with this site – either that or all of y’all need to pack up and move here!

**Joe´s last blog post..Tax Credit Authorized for 1st Time Homebuyers

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7 Seo uk June 4, 2009 at 6:27 am

Hi,
I checkout the CrimeReports.com.
It really a nice site for sharing.

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8 Clasificados Puerto Rico Online June 4, 2009 at 11:06 am

That is awesome, one of the best map integrations Ive seen. I see how people will keep using it cause it serves a real added value to users.

I assume that you make site reviews in this blog, If you ever have time to review clasificadosmejores.com I would really appreciate it.

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9 Bruce Wagg@ Oakland Real Estate June 4, 2009 at 5:26 pm

Great tip on a great site. Oakland has it’s fair share of bad and good areas so this is something I’ll pass on to my clients.

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10 Susie Blackmon June 5, 2009 at 1:09 am

Love the concept and appreciate the link. Unfortunately when you live in the mountains of NC, the latest and greatest technology takes centuries to ‘get here’ – - but at least we are on the map! Searching more ‘metropolitan’ areas produced great results.

**Susie Blackmon´s last blog post..North Carolina Views – Video Courtesy of NC State University.

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11 Brewer Caldwell June 5, 2009 at 12:20 pm

This is an awesome resource. Dealing with the rental market as well would prove to be so valuable to potential tenants. We are still seeing so many move in from out of state that have no idea where to go. This will be benficial for a lot of people.

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12 Brendan Aiello@San Mateo Real Estate June 5, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Very Cool Site! I can recommend it to clients so they make sure they know the area they are moving in to.

I may have to feature this site on my blog too!

**Brendan Aiello´s last blog post..One of San Mateo’s Best Kept Secrets!

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13 Heather Rankin June 5, 2009 at 7:41 pm

Cool site, alas Page, AZ is not on their either :) ~ love our town names. Of course I am in Big Water (yes, a real town on the Utah side of Lake Powell & Highway 89 ), pop. 420….. its not on their either…. oh but wait…. our one Marshall probably does not subscribe. Cheers!

**Heather Rankin´s last blog post..Lake Powell Swap Meet at The Cowboy In – Another Lake Powell Fridays Activity

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14 Jessica@Cosmetic Surgery June 6, 2009 at 5:20 am

A good site that will help to protect us and our children from crime in case if we choose a new area to move.

Slightly disappointed that the coverage is very small. Let’s hope that the service will develop in future.

**Jessica´s last blog post..Hiding the Tummy Tuck Scars

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15 Chuck Lieber@ Carver County MN Homes June 6, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Here is another site contaning crime reports.
http://www.areaconnect.com/

**Chuck Lieber´s last blog post..Pristine Carver MN 2 Story

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16 Ki@Austin Texas Real Estate June 8, 2009 at 8:53 am

Thats pretty cool. Its nice you can set the dates to see crimes that just happened in the last month or so to get an idea of what is going on in the neighborhood.

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17 Leon Belenky-Miami Beach Luxury Homes June 10, 2009 at 4:11 pm

So glad to hear Francy was OK in the car accident-poor Altima though! CrimeReports.com is a great resource to find out about areas, especially when someone is moving across country and can’t go drive by neighborhoods to see if it is in the realm of what they are wanting.

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18 Daniel Bates - Awendaw Real Estate June 11, 2009 at 10:55 am

I click on South Carolina to give it a test drive and there are only 2 cities in the system, not crimereports.com fault I’m sure, we’re just a little slow when it comes to technology here

**Daniel Bates – Awendaw Real Estate´s last blog post..Sewee Preserve

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19 Brantford Real estate June 11, 2009 at 3:11 pm

I wish Canada had the same website coverage as the US. :(

**Brantford Real estate´s last blog post..How to Save up for a Down Payment

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20 Karen Goodman June 12, 2009 at 1:29 pm

Thanks for pointing out this site! 1 of the 3 major counties in St. Louis (St. Louis City) has their own crime map which is great that lets you plug in an address, choose the type of crimes you care about, and see everything in a 1 mile radius.

But, the other two counties have nothing. Sadly, only 3 of the 91 municipalities in St. Louis County have signed up for this service, but it is a start! I’ll be posting on my blog highlighting these cities and how to use the crime map. Thanks again!

**Karen Goodman´s last blog post..Home Buyer Report – Best Buys in St. Louis South City

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21 Bobbie McGowan-RE/MAX Ottawa June 14, 2009 at 9:55 pm

What a fantastic tool for people that don’t know the area or that don’t live close enough to spend some time driving around and checking out areas.

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22 Thad@OPSEC June 14, 2009 at 11:19 pm

Oh, jeez- I’m glad that I saw this link, but at the same time, I wish that I hadn’t! I checked my area, and I’m a little bit sorry that I checked it out. :S

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23 StatenIslandRealEstateAgent August 20, 2009 at 7:49 am

This is an awesome site. It is pretty cools too see whats happening in your area.

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24 Ecommercewebdesign September 3, 2009 at 1:11 am

Great post. I like your writing style. I really enjoy reading your blog.The keyword sniping links are awesome.Keep it up.Thanks for sharing with us. Keep blogging.

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25 firewallconfiguration September 7, 2009 at 12:26 am

Hi! nice post and its one of the innovative and informative one so keep up post cont,this useful tips really help s the readers like me,hope its must be a great for the next generation.Thanks for the cool post .

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26 castings musique September 12, 2009 at 12:11 pm

I liked the look of your site. Just a suggestion-Please increase the font size a little as it's so small as to strain your reader's eyes.

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27 castings musique September 12, 2009 at 2:11 pm

I liked the look of your site. Just a suggestion-Please increase the font size a little as it's so small as to strain your reader's eyes.

Reply to this comment

28 Wonderbra October 1, 2009 at 6:23 am

Fabulous, well done! It is pretty cools too see whats happening in your area. I would like to say thank you for sharing this cool article. Keep blogging.

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