 Crime information is now available to Pinellas County citizens from the comfort of home. With a few strokes of the keyboard, you can access the "Crime Viewer" website, a mapping program designed to give you quick and easy access to information about crime in your community anytime of the day or night. "Crime Viewer" was developed and created through a cooperative effort between the Sheriff's Office Information Systems and Analysis Unit and Pinellas County Government's Business Technology Services (BTS). The website can be accessed at www.pinellascounty.org/crimeviewer. Once at the site, just enter an address and a mapping report will be generated based on proximity to the location you have entered. The map will pinpoint the crimes in the specified area. In other words, a series of icons will pop up on the screen that will provide you a snapshot of the criminal activity that has taken place around the selected location. The information provided will allow you to see what types of crimes are most prevalent in the area and perhaps even allow you to spot trends. If you are interested in buying property or moving into a particular neighborhood, this snapshot of information may help guide you in the decision making process. In another example, if you are a member of a Neighborhood Watch group or community association, you may wish to use the information to keep other residents informed of criminal activity in your area and to take the necessary steps to prevent crime. Beyond searches by address, the user-friendly site will also allow queries by date of offenses or by a specific type of offense, giving you greater control and flexibility on the information you wish to obtain. Reported offenses include: burglary, assault, theft and drug possession and others. The Sheriff's Office and various municipal police departments have partnered to contribute data for this new mapping program, which is powered by Pinellas County's GIS database. The Sheriff's Office contributes data for unincorporated areas and its contract cities of:
The Sheriff's Office also provides data for:
Additional data contributors include:
Another feature is that "Crime Viewer" is linked to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's sex offender database, providing you the ability to view sex offenders' photos and addresses. In order to maximize usability "Crime Viewer" also works on mobile devices. Work is already underway on the next phase of "Crime Viewer," to add on notifications and alerts to mobile devices and e-mail accounts. "Crime Viewer" information is updated every 48 hours and if you are interested in doing a historical search the application will allow you to research up to one year of criminal activity to date. The Sheriff's Office is extremely proud of this cooperative effort. We invite you to visit the "Crime Viewer" website which we think will be an extremely useful tool in helping to keep you informed and safe. |