Ask HN:Is anyone working on crime related sites?

3 points·FreeRadical··7 comments

I've been tinkering with the idea of creating a crime reporting site but haven't come across many start-ups in this space. I was wondering if anyone is doing or has done anything similar?

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This mashup involves official crime data from the Chicago PD:

http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/

Maps, charts, etc. ... but I don't see how it's monetized. They've expanded to other cities recently (see list at bottom)

Thanks, my take is slightly different, I'm looking at lettings users report crime anonymously, as opposed to aggregating official data.

The question is what do you do with the data?

And where do you get cash?

If your working closely with the Police forces etc. I suppose they might show an interest. But we work with police forces and I can tell you they are a pain to convince on "new technology" :)

I was thinking more along the lines of a social enterprise, maybe grant supported.

Local councils (here in the UK) may be more welcoming.

The problem I forsee there is faked reports and it providing a forum for neighbourhood disputes.

Any attempt to produce "crime figures/data" for an area might be subject to a lot of bias.

(not that I think it's a bad idea; just some thoughts thatr occurred to me)

Why not give it a shot: if there is no one in the sector it doesn't mean it is a dead end :D (it might mean it is a tough climb though)

I think the crime reporting would have to be anonymous, and maybe find a way to match similar instances (from different witnesses)

Always found it interesting, but haven't worked on it. Only thing that comes to mind are EveryBlock's(.com) crime sections.

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