ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has launched a new crime-mapping tool to allow residents to track incidents around the city.
The department and Mayor Tishaura Jones said that the tool was to increase transparency around crime and its prevention.
“An informed public is a safer public,” said Jones. “Everyone has a role to play in preventing crime in our city, and this new crime map is another tool in our toolbox."
The tool will allow residents to see incidents in any of the city's neighborhoods, including their own. It has symbols to show the type of crime and clicking on the images gives you details of what happened.
People can search for crimes happening in their neighborhood by address or location and filter by date, going as far back as six months. You can also look into a specific type of crime or find a summary of crime activity in a specific area.
"As we have less officers throughout the United States, we have to leverage that technology to keep our community safe," Chief Tracy said.
You can even sign up to receive alerts if something amiss happens in an area you select.
The map is updated every 24 hours.
Crimes will remain on the map for 180 days. Almost every type of crime will be displayed on the map, from felonies to misdemeanors.
The crimes that are tracked include: arson, assault, burglary, disturbing the peace, drug abuse violations, DUI, fraud, homicide, vehicle theft, robbery, general theft, vandalism, break-ins and weapons violations.
The crimes that won't appear on the map are sexual assault, domestic violence, and juvenile-related offenses.
Tracy hopes this will help them be transparent with the public.
"Everybody thinks we're hiding information. We don't do a great job in communicating sometimes in policing and I want to make sure we improve on that. It does build trust, and when trust is built, we can do a lot of things in our community together and make a difference," he said.
The city said the tool brings back mapping, which was a part of the crime tool belt for the city until 2022, when the city denied to renew a contract with a previous vendor.
Tracy said the crime mapping tool has been in the works since he started in 2023.
"This is just another layer that I've been looking to do and bring this back. Crime mapping will help our communities. It helps them be better engaged, more informed, and not waiting for a community meeting. This is where you get a visual of where it's happening and when it's happening," he said.
Tracy explained how the tool worked so well while he was with police departments in New York City and Chicago. That's why he wanted to bring it here, and it's already received good feedback from the community.
"It was very well received at my last police department, and I know it will be very well received here. One of the community leaders sent a message to my sergeant saying, 'Thank you. This is exactly what we're looking for so I can inform my community as a leader on what to watch out for.' Some of them want to look out for their community, and they want to be eyes and ears of what's going on," Chief Tracy said.
Tracy said that while the map will be transparent, specific addresses will not be displayed, and they will be reported by the hundred block.
"The launch of Crime Mapping is an additional information-sharing tool that reaffirms our commitment to trust and transparency,” Tracy said. “From misdemeanor offenses to the most serious crimes, our residents and business leaders will have access to timely and relevant data.”
Last year, St. Louis experienced its lowest homicide rate in a decade and the largest year over year reduction in crime in 90 years.