There are now two very useful tools for tracking crime in Gwinnett County.

First, Gwinnett County just made their crime statistics available on the website Crime Mapping (www.crimemapping.com).  With this website you enter an address and a date range and you can see a map with icons showing crimes in the area.  Drug possession, assault, burglary are all mapped out with little symbols.  Click on a symbol to find the date and case number.  Unfortunately none of the City police departments are participating yet, but it is a start.  You can also use this website to set up a “Crime Alert” that will send you an e-mail when criminal activity occurs near you home or business.

Second, if you haven’t discovered Scan Gwinnett (www.scangwinnett.com) you should.  As important as it is to know what crimes have occurred in your neighborhood it is even more important to discover where the criminals live.  Scan Gwinnett tracks all arrests made in Gwinnett County – you can even enter a zip code or two and set up a daily e-mail alert with all of the people booked who live in those zip codes.  While it is important to know about the burglary down the street it may be even more important to know about the (alleged) child molester living next door.

Scan Gwinnett has some other excellent features. You can listen to radio communications with the Gwinnett Fire department, which can be very informative when you want to know what is going on with an emergency.  The fire department responds to most accident calls and listening to their radio conversations will keep you up to date.  You can also play the “Guess Their Crime” game – follow this link (http://www.gwinnettmugs.com/) and you will be taken to a page of mug shots.  At the top you can change the city or date range for the booking.  Select a picture and you will be presented with the persons name, address, arrest date and charges.

Gwinnett County makes this information available to help us become more aware and, in so doing, hopefully reduce our chances of becoming a victim.  As the County said when it announced their participation in the Crime Mapping service:

The accessibility of this information will contribute to the awareness of our population and serve to enhance community policing practices. The Gwinnett County Police Department believes this will empower citizens to take extra safety precautions when necessary and to be on the look out for criminal activity occurring around them…The Crime Mapping concept has been proven effective in reducing crime by raising the level of awareness within the community and facilitating the partnership between the police department and the citizens. Community awareness is an effective means to reduce crime.

The Crime Mapping solution represents a hybrid in mapping technology which utilizes both Google Maps and an advanced geographic engine. Crime data is extracted on a regular basis from the department’s records system so that the information being viewed through a Web browser is up to date. These key components combine to serve the public accurate and timely data in the form of maps and reports.  By encouraging more self reliance within the community and further improving overall communications Crime Mapping will serve to benefit Gwinnett County and its citizens.

Let’s all work to make it a safer Gwinnett!

More on This Topic:

• Gwinnett Cities in Confusion Over Immigration Enforcement
• Where to Get Involved Now
• Gwinnett Food Critic: Oyster Bay Seafood Cafe
• 550 Trackside: A Bride-2-Be Report
• Nothing Says Happy Holidays to Gwinnett Like a Red Cross Gift