IDAHO — In an effort to make crime data from Idaho State Police more accessible and user-friendly, the Idaho Statistical Analysis Center and the Idaho Uniform Crime Reporting Program teamed up to create a new-online data dashboard for anyone to view crime trends in their area.
Each year Idaho State Police sends out an annual crime report which can be nearly 200 pages or more depending on the year. Now, this new online dashboard makes the data a little easier to access and read.
“So, it’s all about better access to localized information. A lot of attention gets paid to crime trends around the state and sort of statewide numbers. This is a way to dig into the data that we are collecting from our local partners in law enforcement to see what’s happening in those communities, "principal research analyst and director for the Idaho Statistical Analysis Center Thomas Strauss said.
The new Crime in Idaho data dashboardgives users a chance to view Idaho's crime data from across the state each year going all the way to 2005 until 2020.
“We know our citizens value public safety very highly and a part of that is being informed about what is happening in your community. We’re trying to increase the availability of the data so that people who don’t have a lot of experience looking at the raw data that gets published in the report every year can go in and kind of easily understand what’s going on in their area,” Strauss said.
New Crime in Idaho Dashboard launched for Easier Public Access to Crime Data.
— Idaho State Police (@ISPHeadquarters) November 29, 2021
The project is a collaborative effort between the Idaho Statistical Analysis Center & the Idaho Uniform Crime Reporting Program, both within the Idaho State Police. https://t.co/81hJUvdxjM pic.twitter.com/pN5DI37Fhz
The dashboard only has two sections right now — crimes against persons and drug and alcohol-related arrests, but more sections like partner violence and crimes against society will be added in the future.
“You will be able to get very localized and customizable data in there. If you have an idea going in of what you are looking for, you’ll be able to find it much easier than scrolling through a 200-page document or you can just kind of play around in it and see what’s going on in your community and educate yourself about what public safety looks like in your neighborhood,” Strauss said.
To view the dashboard, clickhere.
