Detroit increases transparency, offers crime reports, other data online

[MSUguy]

DETROIT, MI --When Detroit Chief Information Officer Beth Niblock arrived in Detroit from Louisville, Ky. about a year ago with the goal of upgrading Detroit's information technology, she says some departments were using Windows NT 3.1, an operating system released in 1993.


On Thursday, city officials revealed a huge technological leap that allows huge chucks of once-difficult-to-access data -- building permits, property ownership and sales information, demolition statuses, reported crimes and more -- available online to the public.


The website containing the information is data.detroitmi.gov.


Niblcock said this is just the first step in an ongoing open data initiative that she hopes will make data as easy to access as it is in other advanced cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle.
The public safety section offers crime mapping and tools to map and sort reported crimes in real time as it's entered into the Detroit Police Department system. A short crime description and the address where the crime occurred is provided back through January 2014.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...l#incart_river

TONS of info on the site.

[animatedmartian]

This is so much more streamlined than it's been in many years. I'm glad. Hopefully an efficient website translates into a more efficient government.

[dmike76]

I compared this to the Chicago Data Portal. It's the same platform, but Chicago's site looks like it has more data [[not surprising). Hopefully, Detroit's will continue to grow to match Chicago's. It's nice to see us have some technology of a first world city.

[Mind field]

In the first paragraph of the linked article, the last name of Detroit's chief information officer is Niblock. In the fourth paragraph, someone slipped a C into her last name in just the right spot to make a pretty dirty sounding last name....especially if her middle name was "lovesto". Lol

[aj3647]

It's only as good as the data that's entered into it. If the DPD is juking the stats, we would get a false picture of what the reality of crime in the city is. That's not even including the massive amount of crime, both violent and property, that almost certainly goes unreported.

[sumas]

Lots of crime is unreported because lots of people have minor warrants for unpaid tickets.

I was out in front one day and a young lady came crying, her "male friend', beat her up and stole her money. She was in shock, after she called police, I brought her in, wrapped her up, made her herbal tea. She made a few phone calls and who ever she talked told her to shut up. She left before the police arrived. I was so embarrassed to waste their time.

Never saw her before, never saw her since.

[sumas]

Because of this frigid weather, I have missed several community meeting, the 7th precinct has been awesome, we have been well informed as to what is going on. I have a direct number to our precinct captain [[cell) never used it , but nice to have. It's posted on my fridge. Hope I never need to call it.