A mapping tool created by the Vancouver Police Department takes the guesswork out of rumoured crimes and mischief reported on neighbourhood Facebook groups.
Launched in 2015, the Geographic Data Analysis and Statistics Hub (also known as the more exciting GeoDASH Crime Map) is a continuously updated, free-to-access page that displays the nature and locations of crimes reported within the last seven days. The date range can be expanded and customized using the maps “Address Search” or “Neighbourhood Search” features.
“By providing valuable information about crime activity in neighbourhoods, citizens can be more informed and engaged in reducing crime,” the VPD writes in the map’s FAQ page.
Despite being a powerful resource the map does have its limitations due to privacy, investigative, or jurisdiction reasons. The map only displays crimes in 11 separate categories that occurred within the last five years and does not show crimes committed on SkyTrain lines.
Those categories include the broad “Offence Against a Person” classification which includes all violent incidents like robbery and sexual assault with the exception of “Assaults Against Police.”
“The category is intentionally designed as a large aggregate of multiple subcategories of violent incidents in order to reduce the likelihood of specific incidents being used to reveal Personal Identifiable Information,” the VPD explained.
For some extra content, the data used in the map is assigned an "Occurred Time" and not a "Reported Time", indicating the date and time when the incident took place and not the date and time that the incident was reported to police.
Property incidents on the other hand do not fall within the same guidelines, allowing for additional categories like “Commercial Break and Enter”, “Residential Break and Enter”, and various theft-related categories allow for a more granular breakdown.
It might be tempting to be alarmed when looking at an area densely packed with reported crimes but the VPD explained that highly-populated areas or areas with a high volume of foot traffic may have more reported incidents.
If you are concerned about the level of crime in your area, the VPD encourages residents to call your Community Policing Centre and ask to speak to a Neighbourhood Police Officer.
The crime incidents are updated Monday to Friday, except for statutory holidays.
