Another Way to Map Dallas Crime, At Least Until the City Updates Its Antiquated Map

Over these many years I've lost track of the number of Dallas crime maps that have come and gone -- seem to recall having SpotCrime bookmarked at one point, there's the slow-loading CrimeWatch, and the city has its own rustic site that looks like something that was very ahead of...

By Robert Wilonsky

September 27, 2010

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Over these many years I've lost track of the number of Dallas crime maps that have come and gone -- seem to recall having SpotCrime bookmarked at one point, there's the slow-loading CrimeWatch, and the city has its own rustic site that looks like something that was very ahead of its time in 1998. This afternoon, a Friend of Unfair Park forwards along this press release alerting us to yet another site: CrimeMapping, which provides you not only with the what, where and when but also offers up service reports. Says the release, it's the result of the Dallas Police Department's "progressive approach to transparency by making their crime data available to the public through numerous channels."

I asked some folks at DPD how long this has been around and what they thought of it. A few higher-ups didn't know about the site at all, while others said it's been floating around for a while now. And one officer kicked back this note: The old interactive map on the city's website is about to get an overhaul. Finally.

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