Now students at Cal State Long Beach can find out about crime on campus with just a click of the mouse.
Ucrime.com is website that maps the crimes of more than 200 college campuses using geo-coding through Google Maps.
The map includes a cluster of icons that pertain to certain crimes, including a fist for assaults or a spraycan for vandalism. Clicking on one of the icons brings up information on where the crime occurred as well as a real Google image of the location.
Colin Drane, the founder of Ucrime.com and another crime mapping website, Spotcrime.com, is a graduate of the University of Virginia where he majored in economics and philosophy.
“Ucrime was intended to be a compliment to Spotcrime,” Drane said.
Drane got the idea of crime mapping technology when his GPS was stolen in the front of his house in Baltimore.
“As a resident of Baltimore, you don’t get a full picture of crime in your area unless you have data from both the city and the university police department,” Drane said. “We became a single repository for both sets of data.”
University Police Captain Scott Brown said he thinks a website like Ucrime can change the safety landscape for Cal State Long Beach’s campus.
“We do crime mapping for our website,” Brown said. “Using one central map would be easier to see where [crimes] are happening, but we don’t currently do that.”
Currently, CSULB has an e-notification system for major crimes that occur on campus. The system sends registered students a text message or email notifying them of the crime.
Drane said that crime data should be readily and easily accessible to all.
“With today’s technology and the sophistication of most universities, it seems like most universities should be producing near real time geo-located data in table format for everyone to consume,” Drane said.
CSULB provides its crime data through the University Police website. Crimes are posted online anywhere from a few hours to a few days after the crime took place depending on how long the investigation takes.
The University Police does not have any direct ties with notifying Ucrime with crimes happening on campus, according to Brown.
Drane said he hopes for uniform and timely digital distribution of crime data in order to create safer campuses and communities.
“We hope by contributing to awareness, we are increasing safety,” Drane said.