What is Crimemapper?
Crimemapper is a website which displays local crime
information, allowing members of the public to see what is
happening in their local area.
Since the beginning of 2009 the National Policing Improvement
Agency (NPIA) have published crime statistics from all Police
forces in England and Wales which allows members of the public to
see crime and anti-social behaviour statistics for their
neighbourhood.
The Crimemapper site was updated in May 2012 to include "Justice
Outcomes", the site will show outcomes ranging from ‘no further
action taken’ through to court results.
The service is maintained solely by the Home Office using
information provided by partners in the criminal justice
system.
What crime is displayed on the maps?
The website will display:
- burglary,
- robbery,
- vehicle crime,
- violent crime,
- public disorder and weapons,
- shoplifting,
- criminal damage and arson,
- other theft,
- drugs,
- other crime.
The site also displays anti-social behaviour.
What do the dots on the map represent?
Each dot marks the approximate location of
where a crime or incidence of anti-social behaviour has occurred.
To ensure privacy of individuals, incidents of crime or anti-social
behaviour are mapped to a point on, or near, the street where it
happened, rather than the actual location itself - this is
referred to as a ‘safe location’.
For example: A burglary at 10 Made-up Street on 20th
December 2011
To show how the Crimemapper website maps the location of
crime the example of a burglary at house will be used. The burglary
took place at 10 Made-up Street on 20th December 2010, the location
of which is shown (as the red dot) on the image below:
1) Original approximate location of a burglary
Rather than put a dot over the house where the burglary took
place (10 Made-up Street) and identify the victim, the Crimemapper
website will move the location of this incident
to the nearest ‘safe location’, as shown in the
diagram below:
2) 'Safe location' where the burglary is moved to on
Crimemapper
The Crimemapper website will put a dot in the middle of Made-up
Street - and the descriptive text will state "there has been a
burglary on or near Made-up Street".
If the street where the incident occurred has less than 8
postal addresses, the dot will be moved to the nearest street with
the required number of postal addresses.
Please Note:
Users of the Crimemapper website should be aware when
viewing street-level maps, that the data published on the website
does not necessarily portray exact locations of where the crime
occurred.
How do you decide where the dots (which represent a crime or
incidence) are?
Crime and anti-social behaviour incident information is provided
by forces to the NPIA who upload the data into the Crimemapper
website. Crimemapper then automatically calculates the nearest
'safe' location where a crime / incident should be mapped to, and
it is this location which is presented on the website. The list of
‘safe locations’ was created by the NPIA (National Policing
Improvement Agency).
How current is the data presented on the maps?
The data and maps are updated monthly with statistics from the
previous month. You should expect to see new statistics on the site
by the 25th of every month.
How do I view the Crimemapper website?
The address for the Crimemapper website is www.police.uk. Visit this site and type
in your postcode to see statistics for your area.