DH 101 Blog
http://digitalharlem.org/
This map documents a time period of 1920-1930 in Harlem and uses a query search function for crimes.
This digital map of Harlem is interesting. I do not know much about Harlem, nor have I ever been there. But from what I hear it is known as a rather rough environment. This digital map maps certain crimes and arrests that were made throughout Harlem. Furthermore, there is a relatively extensive filter function, allowing a search to be very specific for a type of individual and/or crime to be found. This kind of map perhaps makes assumptions about the community of Harlem, that they must need a filter for all their crime. This assumption is a stretch, however, as this map is also a great tool. It is very useful resource that one can learn a lot about the Harlem community with. I see this map reflecting the point of view of the Police, as it is like having access to all the police records of crimes. This also seems to serve the city governments point of view, as they would like give people access to this important information, and also use this information to understand where to improve security.
This map reveals that a fair amount of crimes, in varying degrees, occurs in Harlem. One cannot assume the rates of crime however, as this is only a study of one particular neighborhood. It also reveals potential areas that need to be invested in more by the city, as high concentration of crimes appear in particular parts of the community.
This map however does obscure the conception of how much crime and potential danger there is in Harlem. All that is being plotted is crimes, not good or positive events in the community. This can put the area in a bad light by someone using this mapping tool. Furthermore, this map only covers years 1920-1930, so it is not a current reflection of today’s crime. This would also not be helpful for current city officials to use as information. Nor would current Harlem residents be able to use this practically. I see this map being used for scholarly and archival work.
I would like to see an alternate map that is updated to todays records. This map could be compared to the older one. Also, it would be great to see the stats where Harlem is compared to other cities of similar size and demographic, to get a more rounded view of how significant the crime really is.