WEBSITE LET’S VISITORS RESEARCH CRIME DATA NATIONWIDE


WEBSITE LET’S VISITORS RESEARCH CRIME DATA NATIONWIDE

By Christopher Shuttlesworth NeighborhoodScout Crime Analytics Is a 15-year-old organization that uses crime data from 18,000 law agencies across the United States and algorithmically processes more

than nine million reported crimes into nationally comparable crime data, according to neighborhoodscoutcrime.com.

The company’s coverage includes data on crime risks scores for murders, robberies, thefts and rapes of every neighborhood and address in America.

Paul Gallagher, who is NeighborhoodScout Head Marketing Director, said NeighborhoodScout has the highest resolution of crime data available in the industry and shows crime data all the way down to the neighborhood level.

Gallagher explained that this level of data analysis helps people see the types of patterns that exist in their cities or states with regards to household data as it relates to a specific neighborhood. Information is also classified by wealth and cultural data specific to a certain neighborhood.

Besides those factors, the NeighborhoodScout analysis team uses a methodology for collecting data that takes into account every single factor when creating their crime data analysis, Gallagher said.

“Sometimes people review our data and say ‘I live there and the crime rate seems really high to me,’” he said. “But what they might not be taking into account is that our scores are based on the

population.”

For example, if you look at the crime data in the South Loop of Chicago, you will see that during the day the population is a little higher than at night because of population surges during the daytime.

“It may seem like a score is really high in certain area,” Gallagher stated. “But if you look at the population for crime per thousand people in the population, then that is how you really determine what you’re up against.”

Although Chicago’s homicide rate has been covered locally and nationally, recent studies show that the city’s gun-violence rating doesn’t even rank in the top ten worst crime cities for homicides, says The Trace, a news source that provides insight about gun violence in America. With a population of 2.7 million people, the FBI Crime Data Report showed that Chicago’s homicide rate from 2010-2015 accounted for only 16.4 victims per 100,000 residents. Other cities with higher rates of homicides include New Orleans with 46.9 per 100,000 residents, Detroit with 45 per 100,000 residents, St.

Louis with 43.8 per 100,000 residents, Baltimore with 38.1 per 100,000 residents and Oakland with 23.9 per 100,000 residents.

The NeighborhoodScout’s analysis of the 2015 FBI Crime Data Report showed comparisons of suburbs near Chicago like Markham, Illinois which was reported safer than 53 percent of cities in the United States.

Markham’s violent crime rate has 3.55 per 1,000 residents and 14 per 1,000 in total crimes. Blue Island, Illinois has been marked as

being one of the highest violent crime cities in Illinois with a crime rate of 28 per 1,000 residents, which is higher than 86 percent of

other cities in Illinois.

Patty Counihan, who is the Organizer of NeighborhoodScout Crime data, said when you look at this type of crime data thoroughly, you begin to get an actual picture of not only your city, but crime rates within the United States and actually get an understanding for

where the crimes occurred and also see the safety risks within the neighborhoods.”

To research crime data in your area, visit www.neighborhoodscout.com

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.