Crime Mapping

Written on 02/16/2022
Cheri Spottke


Date –  February 15, 2022

We are excited to announce that crime mapping is now live on both the city website and the police department mobile app.

The Westminster Police Department (WPD) strives to keep the public informed about crime. In an effort to be transparent, WPD uses a third-party vendor CrimeMapping.com to provide a daily updated crime map.  

Data from the crime map can be reviewed and used to: 

·                     Improve community safety 

·                     Inquire about the police activity in certain neighborhoods 

·                     Begin discussions as part of a coordinated crime prevention initiative 

Types of Crimes  

On CrimeMapping.com, you can view crimes where a police report was taken by WPD. This is a representation of crime and is not all-inclusive of all criminal activity or department activity.  

The data is based on preliminary incident information received from police officers. Crime reports are subjected to investigative review and criminal justice processes which may result in a change in the final crime disposition and/or classification. 

Categories 

CrimeMapping.com uses a nationwide crime category type system. All possible offense charges were reviewed and placed into the most appropriate category; however, select criminal offenses were excluded due to lack of a representative category.  For example: simple traffic infractions, some child abuse, some kidnapping, or any animal related incidents were not included in the map due to lack of appropriate category.  Other non-criminal police incident like runaways, missing persons, natural deaths and suspicious incidents are not categorized by state or federal statute as crimes, are sometimes considered protected medical or private information and therefore are not reported.

 

Location 

You can view the whole city or narrow your search to a particular area around an address. The crime locations reported are not the exact addresses, but generalized into hundred blocks or intersections. 

Time Frame 

The crime pin may have up to a week delay from the time the incident occurred. The police report needs to be written, approved, and reviewed by our Records Unit before being displayed on the crime map.  

The data is dynamic, which allows for additions, deletions and/or modifications at any time, resulting in more accurate information. Updates from WPD are refreshed daily from our records management system to CrimeMapping.com. 

The map includes a rolling 180 days (6 months) worth of crime data from our agency. If you require more historical data or detailed information, please contact our Public Information Office at 303-658-4421. 

Disclaimer  

CrimeMapping.com compiles crime data using automated processes that are susceptible to error. No warranty is made or implied by any party regarding the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any data provided.  The public is strongly cautioned to not rely upon this data for purposes of making any decisions, or taking or not taking any actions. By using CrimeMapping.com to view Westminster Police Department crime data, you expressly accept these terms of use. 

For more information please visit: https://www.crimemapping.com/FAQ 

You can find links to our crime mapping site on our website https://www.cityofwestminster.us/police or on this app under the menu button in the top left corner.