Point or Polygon

Following from my post yesterday in which I introduced the subjects of privacy and purpose. I will provide two links to illustrate the different approaches to these considerations. The first is from London and the second is from Los Angeles. Both maps are police generated for the public.

http://maps.met.police.uk/
http://www.lapdcrimemaps.org/

The London map is based on polygons to protect privacy, the LA map is based on points with information about time and place.

The LA map provides far more information which the viewer can use to be safer. In my view the policing purpose of public safety and crime prevention has been wrongly been superceded by privacy in London.

I will of course return to this subject because there is much more to be said.

Purpose and Privacy

Just a quick post today to introduce the important issue of privacy and the mapping of police data. This is where the importance of purpose is relevant. If the maps are for the purpose of police accountability, performance indicators and the like (ie political) then there is little justification to compromise individuals' privacy. If on the other hand the maps have a policing purpose like keeping people safe and crime prevention and investigation then there are plenty of precedents where privacy is trumped in the hierachy of priority.

What is the purpose of Crime Maps for the Public?

I will leave this question hanging in the air because I do not have a convincing answer for the crime maps that are currently being published on the Internet.

In the UK crime maps for the public is a development that has been driven by politicians rather than by the police. It would therefore not be unreasonable to suppose that the purpose of the maps is more political than policing.

http://maps.police.uk

See what you think.