The daily crime e-mail had been sent out by the D.C. police to the public via e-mail. It included all crimes in each of the department’s districts, broken down by Police Service Area. The e-mails have been dropped per Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes because they often included information that may have jeopardized police work. Instead, the DC police offer a map built on the acclaimed DC Atlas.
That app is quite complex, allowing search near an address, searching on a specific crime, etc. GIS may love it but some, like the Georgetown Metropolitan Blog (GMT) finds it wanting compared to the sleek text listing. (Full review from the blog including what are suggested as better alternatives: below is a summary.)
...it’s terrible. It’s based on inferior mapping software, it’s difficult to use, and it doesn’t allow you to actually find out any information on each crime. For crime maps, there are better options out there. But a crime map is not a satisfactory replacement for a daily list. MPD has offered the crime map for years, why does it all of the sudden think that it’s a better option than daily blotters?
The response of both NBC and GMT sounds rational: find a way not to include the information that shouldn’t be included and keep the e-mails coming!
- NBC Washington
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/05 at 06:25 AM |
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That’s one of the predications from the folks at Buzz Out Loud for 2009. Sorry don’t recall who said it…
The intro was on the order of “stand alone GPS” will begin going away, but in device and in-car will thrive. GPS will be like a camera in a cell phone - a “required feature.” I think that’s right on and highlights a few things:
(1) GPS is short for “locating technologies” - it could be cell tower, wi-fi, whatever. The feature is simply that the device (car, phone, etc.) can automatically know where it is. While not every knows (or needs to know) how location is determined, I think there’s a real comfort level, interest and demand for the feature.
(2) That feature is useless without apps that can access it (hopefully with permission of the device owner). Carriers are figuring this part out now. How open should we make our location API? Should we have to “approve” of apps? This the 2009 LBS discussion. 2008 ended with two carriers tending toward “open.”
(3) The E-911 emergency response that prompted the need for location determination seems to be overshadowed in the press by the LBS apps. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
(4) Are there any other electronics (or non-electronics) outside mobile devices and cars that will soon have GPS as a feature?
by Adena Schutzberg on 01/05 at 06:00 AM |
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