Online mapping services help police spot trends in crime?

An article in today’s issue of USA Today by Donna Leinwand (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2009-09-09-onlinecrime_N.htm) mentions that police are increasingly turning to online crime mapping sites to identify local crime trends.  It’s an important subject but I think it falls short.  The police already know where crimes have occurred.  After all, the data shown on commercial or agency crime websites comes from the police.  What the article doesn’t mention is how important this information is to the public.  When you know that teens have been breaking into cars in your neighborhood or that a burglary occurred just down the street you’re much more likely to be proactive.  You’ll probably lock your car at night, make sure that your garage door is locked  and leave some outdoor lights on.  This is called ‘target hardening’ and is one of the principal components of Neighborhood Watch.  We will never get rid of crime but we can make it much more difficult.  Providing timely data about local crime to citizens empowers all of us to help take a bite out of crime.