This week’s blog post required us to look at a dataset from the City of Los Angeles. I decided to choose to analyze L.A’s crime data from 2010 to present, which records data from original crime reports. I have always had a fascination with crime and criminals, so I figured looking at this dataset would be interesting.
This dataset is organized and divided into 26 categories. The first category is the DR Number, which is the official file number, then there is the date in which the crime was reported, date when the crime occurred, and the time it occurred. Since the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has 21 Community Police Stations, the geographic area of each station is numbered from 1-21 and referred to as the “area ID”. After area ID, the next topic is the area name, followed by the reporting district, crime code, criminal code description, MO codes (activities associated with the suspect in commission of the crime), victim age, victim sex, victim descent, premise code (the type of structure, vehicle, or location where the crime took place, premise description (describes the premise code, weapon used code, and weapon description.
With all this information the dataset provides, it can tell us trends in reported crimes that occurred from 2010 to the present. We can see which areas have the most crime reported and the demographic of the victims. This information can be very useful and illuminating to police departments and government officials. The police department can use this data to monitor the areas where crime most frequently happens and crack down on crime in those areas. Government officials can use this to implement new laws and help those crime ridden areas. This information can also be very illuminating to the public because citizens are able to see if their neighborhood is safe and avoid areas with high crime rates.
While this dataset has extensive information about various crimes committed, the criminal records neglects to provide information about the perpetrator. We have information about the victim’s age, sex, and descent, but we do not similar information about the criminal. Therefore, if I were to start over with the data collection and describe a completely different ontology, from someone else’s point of view. In addition, I would also include more about the crime such as the severity of the crime (whether it was an infraction, a misdemeanor, or felony).
This is a super interesting dataset! I wish it would tell us about crime information pre-2010 so we would be able to track crimes within the last decade. I also agree that severity of crimes would be really important in a different perspective. Great analysis!
Agreed, the topic is really interesting. I also agree that information on the suspects or perpetrators would be insightful for whoever is looking at the information from the perspective of someone looking to move into that area. Good post!
I found it very interesting how the dataset only gave information about the victim and not the criminal. I feel like a lot of times we pay more attention to the details of the victim rather than those of the perpetrator. I agree that some more information on that would have been much more interesting. Great analysis!
Hello! As someone who loves CSI I was drawn to your post. I think if records included more about the perpetrator, it would help investigators gain more information about the qualities of perpetrators and would prevent issues of incorrect jury decisions and false eyewitness testimony. It is in the publics best interest to know more information about perpetrators and what could motivate them.