Curious to know how much crime actually happens in your Chicago neighborhood? Last week, Open City launched a new data visualization web app that allows interested users to explore crime trends in Chicago across its 50 wards. The website, Crime in Chicago, showcases itself as an “interactive analysis” in which users select a year (dating back to 2002) and select a ward to view that ward’s crime news, such as which crimes occur most frequently and at what time of day, as well as how crime in the ward has changed over time.
With its easy navigation and visualization of trends, the creators of the site have made city data from the Chicago Police Department accessible to citizens in a way that contextualizes the crime and illustrates it as a social phenomenon that varies across time and by location. According to the site, the free tool can be used by anyone, particularly:
1. Citizens who are concerned or curious about crime in the community
2. City officials tracking neighborhood trends
3. Aldermen trying to identify and address local problem areas
4. Policemen looking to place their experience of the streets in a broader context
5. Community groups trying to understand the neighborhoods they serve
6. Journalists as a report tool
7. Academics researching urban crime
Crime in Chicago is just one of many civic projects created by Open City in an effort to improve transparency and efficiency in government. View more projects here.