COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tracking crime in your neighborhood could become easier with a new web site that tracks the data for you. The web site covers all of Columbus and some of the suburbs and shows the address of every recent crime and what type of crime was reported.
NBC 4’s Mike Bowersock reported with the FAST FACTS
A new website, www.spotcrime.com, monitors all recent crimes in the Columbus area. The website crunches the data and marks which recent crimes have happened where.
There are pros and cons to the site, though. The site is very complete; however, it is really a marketing tool.
Kevin Miles of Crime Stoppers worries that the website may be used as a tool to collect user information.
"If you actually become a member or log in, they have your name and address, they can do whatever they want to do with it," Miles told NBC 4.
There is a similar link on the Columbus Police website called Citizen Observer. It does not appear to be as complete, but there are no advertisements. It costs the city approximately $30,000 per year to run this site.
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