College Crime Gets Google Maps Mashup at UCrime.com

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 10/01/08

UCrime.com, which provides crime mapping and alert services for colleges and universities, announced that it has doubled to 200 the number of schools it covers.

The service, which is supported by advertising, allows students, parents, administrators, public safety officials and others to view reported crime activity for a particular school on a Google map. Visitors to the site choose the state where the school is located, then the institution. Information is available on the date, time, event type, and location of a crime. Users can sign up to receive alerts automatically via e-mail if a crime occurs near a selected school or schools. Alerts can be sent to desktop computers and mobile devices, including iPhones. UCrime.com is also available on Facebook.

Information on UCrime.com is obtained through police departments, daily newspapers, and other publicly available sources and converted into a Google Maps mashup. The site also incorporates social networking technology to enable users to comment on particular crimes.