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Kyle Hopkins
Kyle Hopkins writes about Anchorage city government and politics. He covered last year's campaign for governor, and has blogged extensively about Alaska politics for the past year. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com
Sean Cockerham
Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the Daily News before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune two years ago to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Now he's back in Anchorage. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com
Erika Bolstad
Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau this summer, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.
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Green reaction to Palin - 5/16/2008 10:40 am
Polls - 5/16/2008 9:43 am
Fuel costs & Fairbanks - 5/15/2008 6:06 pm
Palin pitches $1.2B program to help offset energy costs - 5/15/2008 1:22 pm
Palin energy plan: Grants to utilities and energy debit cards. - 5/15/2008 1:08 pm
AGIA special session - 5/15/2008 12:29 pm
A snowmaking gun with your name on it - 5/14/2008 7:05 pm
Mt. McKinley: Pride of the Rockies - 5/14/2008 6:29 pm
Put it on the governor's tab - 5/14/2008 3:50 pm
Congressional delegation: Not happy - 5/14/2008 3:48 pm
Young legal defense fund: "No activity." - 5/14/2008 3:07 pm
Alaska Newsreader special edition -- the polar bear decision - 5/14/2008 2:59 pm
Marketing the mayor - 5/13/2008 6:02 pm
Browne withdraws - 5/13/2008 12:33 pm
Larry Bird vs. Georgianna Lincoln - 5/13/2008 11:39 am
An Alaskan VP? - 5/13/2008 7:48 am
ANWR vote...sort of - 5/13/2008 6:57 am
Palin to call special session - 5/12/2008 6:06 pm
Campaign season - 5/12/2008 5:32 pm
Gara's fundraising - 5/12/2008 5:10 pm
Posted: April 17, 2008 - 1:24 pm
Behold: APD is looking for feedback on their new crime map.
From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --
The city unveiled a new online crime map today.
It's at http://crimemap.muni.org, and shows you where various types of crimes - burglaries, drunken driving and homicides - were reported the previous day.
Right now you can only check one day's worth of crimes at a time, but Chief Rob Heun said the map is a work in progress and you may be able to view crimes over longer spans of time in the future.
One of our first questions was: Why doesn't the map include reports of rapes and sexual assaults? (The map shows the city block a crime was reported at, but not the name of the victim or precise address.)
Heun said that was his decision, and that he wanted to err on the side of victim's privacy.
A news release announcing the map says the city looked at crime maps in other cities, such as Fresno, L.A. and Chicago for inspiration. Those maps all list rapes or sexual assault alongside other crimes.
Heun said the police department is looking for feedback on the map, which may at some point report sexual assaults by region.
More later.
What's your first impression of the map?
19 April 21, 2008 - 9:57am | akmooster
but at least we have this cool little e-map thing.
18 April 18, 2008 - 2:35pm | LtHoneman
I spoke with Kyle Hopkins yesterday (and the other media as well), and I am saddened that the full explanation of why this program is of benefit to all residents was glossed over or not reported.
What is important to note is this;
1. The crimes listed are showing where the report was made - NOT the actual location of the incident. They are not always the same. (I told this to Kyle)
2. There is a daily fax to ALL of the media that lists ALL crimes reported (including sexual assaults) The information as to addresses is redacted / removed (BY LAW) - ( I told this to Kyle and gave him a copy of all reports since the weekend)
3. My office sends a weekly Sexual Assault report (with the redactions made - BY LAW) to the Anchorage Press - and they post this in their paper weekly. ( I showed this to Kyle and gave him a copy). They have done this for nearly three years.
I explained to Kyle (and showed him) that many crimes occur in a different location and sometimes a different date - and that the APD reviews the 'listed report' against the police report to clarify any differences.
THERE IS NO ATTEMPT BY THE APD TO WITHOLD INFORMATION to the media or the public.
There are certain times and instances that are mandated BY LAW - that prohibits law enforcment in this state from releasing certain details.
For whatever reason - a VERY GOOD - new program available to the citizens and media was not given an objective reporting. I find this disturbing and question why.
In closing - this program is "version 1.0" of Crime Map. Like any program that is implemented commercially or otherwise - there will most certainly be improvements that will be made. Stand by for more positive news from your APD.
Lt Paul Honeman - APD
Spokesperson
April 19, 2008 - 5:32pm | Alaska_Politics
I talked to Lt. Honeman about this Friday, but here's my quick reply:
The story was about the new city crime map. It said the map does not show sexual assaults, and gave the police chief's explanation for that decision.
The story didn't say, or imply, that police are somehow witholding information about sexual assaults.
The map doesn't list rapes, and I asked why.
I do think Lt. Honeman makes a good point about the fact that the map shows where a crime was reported, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's where the crime occurred. Should have made that clear in the story.
-- Kyle
April 21, 2008 - 12:04am | LtHoneman
Story in newspaper was better explained
Many Thanks to Kyle for calling me and for acknowledging that - "we" can all do better.
I reviewed the ADN paper and then this blog - and found that the hard copy story was presented with much more insight as to the new program.
As I stated in my earlier entry - this feature (Crime Map) is better than what was available before (nothing) - and yet has some serious potential for future upgrades.
Think of this program as 'Version 1.0' and that each newer version will be progressively improved.
And to re-state the main point/answer to Kyle's question - the APD - DOES and HAS and WILL report sexual assaults in many, many formats that are publicly available.
Given time and resources - I am confident that Crime Map will show sexual assaults and other sensitive person crimes - in a way that is in compliance with state law.
Lt Honeman
April 19, 2008 - 7:43am | richardhoneman
This is one time I DID have info in advance of this post. I called my SON and asked why APD didn't report just the numbers of Sexual crimes. Boy, did I get an EARFUL! I knew they did give reports to the media and that there were other Public sources of this info.But not all this. Kyle, it would also be nice to find out why so much info was edited. Probably space limits I would guess. Thanks for giving the same info to the Public now Lt Honeman. So people, if you want to know all this info guess ADN and other media are the sources. It would be hard for the Cops to put ALL of us on a mailing list. But maybe the ASSEMBLY could approve, and the TAXPAYERS pay for, a full page ad weekly-I am sure ADN would run the report. Then everyone would be happy? Barbara Honeman
17 April 17, 2008 - 10:32pm | rdunn
It looks like they just listed crimes alphabetically and threw the color spectrum on them, without too much thought. What should be done is to code the violent, weapons, etc crimes in shades of red... and the less threatening crimes toward the blue... maybe the substance abuse and prostitution in purple. That way, at a glance, you might see any patterns of violence and patterns of theft. I assume 'Robbery' involves personal attacks and 'Theft' and 'Burglary' are less violent.
Just a thought.
And if other cities are posting sex crimes, I don't see why Anchorage shouldn't... are we afraid of something (like how much there is)? It makes no sense to provide a graphic view of crime and leave out important data (particularly data of violence) that could be used, to the same extent the rest of the data is, to protect ourselves (or whatever visual analysis you want). I might suggest the color yellow for the sex crimes so they too stand out at a glance.
Which probably leaves green for the non-violent financial (duh) crimes.
Anyway... for a visual/graphic, your colors could be better assigned.
16 April 17, 2008 - 10:10pm | sandra_lee19
Last time I checked Alaska was number one for crimes against women and APD thinks that they are protecting who (?) in not listing rapes and assults???? Is Anchorage going to follow in Juneau's footsteps and attempt to hide the truth by not showing the amount of rapes and assults that occur each day in this city?? APD states that the reason they do not list the rapes/assults is help protect the identity of the victims but they can at least put the street or area the rape/assult occured - they do not have to put the exact address. It's absolutely shameful.
15 April 17, 2008 - 7:15pm | egalite
map seems to be working fine.
clusters and lack of clusters are interesting. american LE hates the "beat", but the clusters are within a "beat". i see police officers standing around in a neighborhood station and walking a beat. LE in some us metro areas ride bikes -- i want to know my cops and i want them to know me. it's comforting to talk to a police officer person-to-person, instead of some cop. "hey, such and such did so and so, did this person break the law or do i have to call 911 and talk to someone i don't know and will ask me ___ questions?".
would be very interesting, and a lot more work, to see how traffic accidents cluster, especially fatal and major ones. you could always include type of vehicles, color of vehicles, drivers' ages, drivers' sex, and cause. there are alaskan's that are hardcore defensive drivers -- give us a break!
14 April 17, 2008 - 6:36pm | emasbury
They "forgot" the robbery at the Fireweed Theater this week. I guess it was just a mistake.
April 17, 2008 - 8:57pm | egalite
they don't keep weekly tallies, at least not yet. read the article.
13 April 17, 2008 - 6:28pm | leslie
Our IT folks heard your comments and made some tweaks. The site was inundated from all over the world. I just tried it and it was fine. If you still have problems, drop a note and we'll look into it.
Leslie Ridle
RidleLD@muni.org
Mayor's Office
12 April 17, 2008 - 5:35pm | aktraveller
This should be helpful to folks. I think I remember reading that the name listed on the map is actually located closer to Kenai.
11 April 17, 2008 - 4:47pm | wanderer_101
I had no problems. Loaded in less than 10 seconds. Good luck.
10 April 17, 2008 - 4:47pm | anchoragecrime
www.anchoragecrime.com is the private sector version of this data release last year. Muni should release 12 months of data to us so we can build a competing project on Google Earth/Maps.
Government needs competition and needs to open up taxpayer data to citizens
Mark
9 April 17, 2008 - 4:29pm | willfister
of the eye is where the rapes are
April 18, 2008 - 5:54am | richardhoneman
I was responding to the person who said they wanted to see RAPE CRIMES ONLY. Why would that be? But yes, it is a a serious problem and needs to be addressed. But would you want YOUR name or your daughters name or location (down to your house number on a Goggle map? I Do hope the Chief and APD can find a sensitive way to give us the numbers and general areas soon. I think they will. But you know, why don't we start a Blog where ONLY women who are victims can post the when and where. Have a place where all women can give an evidence kit and a police report quickly. (yes, even if they are drunk). Until WOMEN get involved and help we can't expect the cops to stop it BEFORE it happens. And they can't arrest and convict without evidence. As for "not going there"-rape happens everywhere-even in your own home. If a woman is picked up in lets say Mid-town and driven to the Hillside and raped, which location would the cops report on their map? But I still say this is a VERY sensitive issue, and must be handled carefully. And it's not an easy fix no matter what. Barbara Honeman
8 April 17, 2008 - 4:00pm | hickandrat
highest rape per capita in the nation, lets focus on something else.
7 April 17, 2008 - 3:58pm | kl7fh
Give it time...only everyone in town is trying to access it. That's my take on it.. I like the idea..
April 17, 2008 - 6:11pm | richardhoneman
I agree. But my computer savy kid thinks it is probably just a Bandwidth problem-whatever that means. However, since he does things like this for Boeing and has for almost 20 years, maybe he is right. Also, people are interested and almost any site crashes when it has lots of hits in a short time. When all the kinks are out I think it it will be great. I have heard many posters on this Blog saying the "cops don't tell us where things are happening", so this will address it-if anyone really wants to spend some time on it. As for the rapes, I agree with the Chief. If it happened to me I sure wouldn't want the info out there. Already there are people screaming "lets get it on Goggle Earth". My word, that thing will get right down to the house numbers. when is it enough? I can understand wanting to know if your area is having assaults or B&E's on a daily or weekly basis-but Rape? If someone figured out how to get this down to a specific home, it would be an invasion of privacy. Some things are much to personal-which is why even the print media doesn't usually publish names. If a woman WANTS you to know about her ordeal SHE can report it to the media-and this Blog. Good work guys! Barbara Honeman
April 17, 2008 - 6:11pm | richardhoneman
I agree. But my computer savy kid thinks it is probably just a Bandwidth problem-whatever that means. However, since he does things like this for Boeing and has for almost 20 years, maybe he is right. Also, people are interested and almost any site crashes when it has lots of hits in a short time. When all the kinks are out I think it it will be great. I have heard many posters on this Blog saying the "cops don't tell us where things are happening", so this will address it-if anyone really wants to spend some time on it. As for the rapes, I agree with the Chief. If it happened to me I sure wouldn't want the info out there. Already there are people screaming "lets get it on Goggle Earth". My word, that thing will get right down to the house numbers. when is it enough? I can understand wanting to know if your area is having assaults or B&E's on a daily or weekly basis-but Rape? If someone figured out how to get this down to a specific home, it would be an invasion of privacy. Some things are much to personal-which is why even the print media doesn't usually publish names. If a woman WANTS you to know about her ordeal SHE can report it to the media-and this Blog. Good work guys! Barbara Honeman
6 April 17, 2008 - 3:34pm | kevingrant
I am on a 45Mb connection and it still takes foreever here to load. With all this tax money and bloated government that Mark Begich runs you think they have a better backbone or webserver.
April 17, 2008 - 7:58pm | valleyguy
does Mark Begich have to do with the ADN web server? I too think he's a tax and spend clown, but I'm pretty sure he does not have much say over ADN's web capability.
5 April 17, 2008 - 3:31pm | fishspotter
The map is choking. Verry slooww rendering.
I viewed the source code and they're using the old Google Maps API key.
They may need to insert the v=2.x parameter instead of v=2 which is there now.
4 April 17, 2008 - 3:29pm | Alpha_Blogger
this falls in the category of doesnt work. After several minutes of the sun burst chasing its tail, I got a blank map. The map finally came back, I can switch between the city areas fine. The switch between the map, satellite and hybrid works fine. Id guess the google piece is working, the local incidents are not feeding google correctly.
3 April 17, 2008 - 3:18pm | taquann
Will be nice to have once it works
It will definitely be nice to have updated crime reports- page is empty but am imagining today was a day to get the page uploaded and running
2 April 17, 2008 - 3:11pm | waitn4snow
Nope not for me either......wait! Im in! It just takes forever to DL. Oh...wait....I guess there were no crimes cause its not showing anything but a city map! Nice!
April 17, 2008 - 3:22pm | rfn
I tried accessing the map using a cable connection (high speed) and a dial-up connection.
Even as I type this on the computer where I browsed the map, then closed it and shifted back to this website, the other computer is still loading.
Without a high-speed connection the site is pretty well worthless unless you have lots and lots of both time and patience. That is NOT uncommon, however, with today's graphic-intensive websites. Were all web designers to work only toward the needs of the dial-up user most folks would find the Internet pretty boring.
Nice to know the "real" name of the inlet, though! You'll find it on the linked website but ya gotta look for it....
Please, don't anybody give away the answer...just note that you've found it (if you find it). Believe me, it IS there.
April 17, 2008 - 9:45pm | AK_Lady
So.... uhhh, how many computers ya got going there? A different one for each screen name? ;)
April 18, 2008 - 9:58am | rfn
we run 15 computers. The majority have no internet connection to ensure that the critical functions they control cannot be "hacked". Only a fraction of the remainder are used for amusement. Three, to be be exact.
When each actual mind has only one personality it works better that way. In the case of multiple personality disorder, apparently rampant in Alaska, only one computer is needed since only one personality is "out" at any given moment. I'd explain how the automation of shifting screen names is done but doing so would be redundant or, to most other readers, boring.
But on the multiple screen names, strikeout. Think of it the other way around. Three dedicated people, each with a computer, each working an eight-hour shift, each using the same screen name. Weekends, though, can be difficult.
A careful observer would be able to spot the difference between the three. Well, at least between one and the other two. Some have come close - questioning whether the correspondent is male or female.
Meanwhile, one of us has figured out why the crime website only supports display of one day at a time. To try to handle more than one day, in a crime-ridden metropolis, would cover the entire map with little balloons and nobody could read the street names.
The youngest of our team has an idea, though: It involves selectively turning off all but one crime category and, with that done, allowing selection of multiple simultaneous days. That would make it easy to determine, for example, if some areas see concentrations of (again, example) vandalism on particular weekdays.
Cool, nu?
April 18, 2008 - 8:15pm | n0se
do you guys ever get anything done around there, if you don't mind me asking ?
I have 4 computers in front of me at home, not including a laptop sitting on the shelf collecting dust.
I also have remote access to 2 more computers using a VPN client. One is a camera server, another serves audio to yet another remote server, (which I guess I could hijack that one too if I were really devious) another for crunching video and the others just suck up electricity for the most part.
April 18, 2008 - 9:07pm | rfn
Rarely.
We just get paid to be here in case something needs our attention someday.
Hasn't yet.
The checks keep coming. Our union is very powerful and well connected.
Of course some of the computers are getting a bit old and may begin crashing, in which case we're going to need three more people but, since the election, we don't worry about head count.
Nice part is the work isn't demanding so there's plenty of energy left after being on shift to do the occasional bit of contract work.
Oh, I forgot to mention....we get free indoor parking; reserved spaces. That used to be a minor fringe benefit. Now it's approaching priceless!
April 17, 2008 - 9:36pm | anewleaf_6
Not everyone has time to "look for it" I personally don't have the time look that hard for anything, between running after a toddler and everything else, I dont have time to play games. Not only that but apparently not everyone can load up the map... so why don't you do us a favor and tell us. If not then don't bring it up. Interesting how it is the name of the DEEP CHANNEL that is part of the inlet... do some basic research OUTSIDE the muni pages. Do some MARINE research you will see...
For those of us that don't have time and don't truly care the name of the channel is Gompertz Channel. Which is PART OF THE INLET.
April 17, 2008 - 3:34pm | rfn
I know, weird. But would a website run by the Omnipotent Municipality of Anchorage and its' law enforcement branch lie?
Wondering, too, if some of the performance issues might be related to which browser various folks are using. I did it with Netscape on one and IE on the other; Netscape gave the best results but it was also on the newer computer with the faster connection.
April 17, 2008 - 3:25pm | Alpha_Blogger
High speed connection is not the answer
Im using a very high speed connection, this site is not ready for prime time.
April 18, 2008 - 2:40pm | rfn
The download time for dial-up is problematic but more and more people are moving up to at least DSL. Hint: For those who can't afford DSL or a cable modem, for about $30 you can buy a decent wireless router and, if you're in any heavily populated area, find an open Wi-Fi connection to piggyback. Not nice. Probably not legal but, if you have a friendly neighbor with unlimited download they might (if asked nicely) not mind cooperating.
Overall it's looking better at this early stage of development than certain Alaska political blogsites that have been around for years.
I can think of one in particular but "she" wouldn't like me naming it.
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20 April 21, 2008 - 12:07pm | akwillis
Why no little pointy balloons coming from the LIO downtown?
What about the bribery, extortion, mail fraud, influence peddling, etc... that happened in our local legislative offices? Citizens should be warned about the nefarious characters that frequent 716 W. 4th Ave.
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