SaferMK today (January 31st 2011) have become the first organisation in the country to launch street level online crime mapping to match the Coalition Government’s data transparency criteria, set out in the Policing for the 21st Century paper. The website will allow residents to view crime and anti-social behaviour data in their immediate area.
The website, accessed via www.safermk.com allows users to simply type in their postcode or click on their estate and then select the street level option. Incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour will appear on the map of Milton Keynes as ‘red indicator dots’ that are scaled at 500 metres wide. A quarterly neighbourhood report is also accessible which is automatically created on the website to provide the user with crime and anti-social behaviour figures for their area.
The SaferMK Community Safety Mapping website, created by Milton Keynes company Zubed was first launched in March 2010 offering estate level figures and was ground breaking for providing data for 28 different types of crime and anti-social behaviour. This information is collated from data provided by Thames Valley Police, Milton Keynes Council and Buckingham Fire & Rescue Service.
Richard Solly, SaferMK manager said: “SaferMK believes strongly in a partnership with the community in order to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. The first step is to get full and accurate local crime information into the public domain. We started this process last year by launching estate level crime and anti-social behaviour figures on the SaferMK Community Safety Mapping website. This second phase of the website allows residents to consider this information on an even more local level.”.”
Councillor Chris Williams, Cabinet Member responsible for Community Safety added; “Through visiting www.safermk.com users will also be able to access advice on being safe and reducing the chances of becoming a victim of crime. People can also find out local information from Thames Valley Police.
The fact that SaferMK is the first organisation in the country to launch street level crime mapping that matches the government’s criteria further goes to show the fantastic Partnership ethic and forward thinking nature here in Milton Keynes.”
Not all areas of the Milton Keynes borough will be able to access the street level option, for example rural towns and villages. Areas with less than twelve properties in the vicinity will not be covered to avoid individual properties being identified.
The website will be updated monthly to provide data from the previous month.
About Zubed
Zubed Geospatial delivers bespoke web-GIS mapping solutions to private and public sector organisations that want to identify geographical patterns in their data, or provide a user friendly map-based interface to their products or services. Traditional GIS solutions are complex and costly; Zubed Geospatial delivers cost-effective turnkey hosted Location Intelligence solutions incorporating powerful display, search and analysis functions.