Friday, October 06, 2006

View Crime Stats by Neighborhood on a Map

Seattle Press Release on the new online mapping service

Mayor Announces Police Crime Stats Now Mapped on Seattle.gov
Award-winning Web site scores again with new ‘My Neighborhood’ feature

SEATTLE - Mayor Greg Nickels announced today that police crime data sorted by neighborhood is now available on the city’s Web site at www.seattle.gov/MyNeighborhood. Statistics on vehicle thefts, property crimes, residential burglaries, violent crimes, plus an overview of major crimes citywide, are mapped on “My Neighborhood” by census tract.

“Keeping our neighborhoods safe includes giving people the tools they need to understand how the Police Department responds to crime,” said Nickels. “Seattle is ahead of other U.S. cities in providing critical information in such an easy-to-use format, and we will be adding even more neighborhood-based statistics in the months ahead.”

The “My Neighborhood” mapping project, created by the city’s Department of Information Technology, received the 2006 Excellence Award in Strategic Innovation for Large Population Groups by the National Association of Government Webmasters (NAGW) this past week in Reno, Nevada. NAGW is the first organization for local and regional government Web professionals. The award follows on the heels of Seattle.gov being named the best city Web portal in the country in August.

“My Neighborhood” was launched in March 2006 and now has 30 city services residents and visitors can view on neighborhood-based maps. The site offers a way for the public to locate the closest public facilities, such as tennis courts, libraries, farmers markets, and fire hydrants; and to see how close they are to their home or business. Future additions to “My Neighborhood” include details on local master use permit applications and neighborhood public art. The site is used more than 8,000 times a week.

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