Google mapping crime and sickness
A new startup,
SpotCrime.com, takes police
reports and puts them on a Google Map. Tracking crime statistics
has been done before
before, but
SpotCrime has set its sights high, aiming to be a resource for all
of the USA (and presumably Canada, if someone doesn't beat them to
it).
WhoIsSick.Org is a
website that works on a similar principle, except that it tracks
sickness across North America.
These websites are interesting to look at, but beyond the location and a brief description of what is taking place, they really don't offer much beyond that. If everyone had access to this info on their mobile devices, would people avoid these areas? Informal information is already shared among peers about where to go and where to avoid through word-of-mouth. I remember the early days of SARS (before it was identified as such), I received several mass e-mails warning people to avoid certain areas of Toronto because there were reports of people getting sick en masse.
The academic in me wants to see this information contextualized. For instance, is the a correlation between income and crime? Children and sickness? Additional map overlays would be a very useful tool so that perhaps a more nuanced understanding can come out of these offerings rather than, oh, that's a bad part of town.
These websites are interesting to look at, but beyond the location and a brief description of what is taking place, they really don't offer much beyond that. If everyone had access to this info on their mobile devices, would people avoid these areas? Informal information is already shared among peers about where to go and where to avoid through word-of-mouth. I remember the early days of SARS (before it was identified as such), I received several mass e-mails warning people to avoid certain areas of Toronto because there were reports of people getting sick en masse.
The academic in me wants to see this information contextualized. For instance, is the a correlation between income and crime? Children and sickness? Additional map overlays would be a very useful tool so that perhaps a more nuanced understanding can come out of these offerings rather than, oh, that's a bad part of town.
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