VT Census Case Studies : Arlington County: Crime data

Created by molfe on 11 Aug 2015

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

The mission of the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is to reduce the incidence of crime and improve the quality of life in Arlington County by making it a place where all people can live safely and without fear.

With each incident involving policing, a multitude of data is collected (e.g. date stamp, category, and location). Police incident tracking – coded using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

Sent 2013 shapefile for police incident location

Link: http://police.arlingtonva.us/incident-tracking/

Date Inventory Completed: 7/11/2015

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • Is the data collected at the property or housing unit level?
  • Can we access the data by August 15th?

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

ACPD’s purpose is to reduce the incidence of crime and improve the quality of life in Arlington County

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

The data is collected for internal administrative purpose, to report to national organizations, like the FBI, to help make informed decisions about preventing crime.

  • Who else uses the data?

Citizens, researchers, policymakers

  • Who do they sell the data to?

Free


Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Operator entry

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Administrative Data

  • If designed, who created the questions?

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

Police reports and CAD data


Description

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Crime

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

Incident tracking: 2013-2015

Current shapefile: 2013

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

General: Yes

Incident tracking: weekly but some weeks are skipped

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

Unknown


Selectivity

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

Incidents involving ACPD in Arlington County.


Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Incident tracking: Download CSV

GIS shapefile emailed after inquiry

  • Is it open data?

Yes (but geocoded data is not publically available)

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

Nothing stated explicit. As agents of the state, we must protect the data like other county agencies.

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

 

Free

 

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? Yes

Full Inventory

Description

  • Features
    • What is the temporal nature of the data: longitudinal, time-series, or one time point?

Time Series

    • Geospatial? If Yes, at what level?

Address, fire district

 

Metadata

  • Is there information available to assess the transparency and soundness of the methods to gather the data for our purposes?

No

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

No

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Yes, Report Number

  • Is there a data dictionary or codebook?

No

 

Selectivity

  • What unit is represented at the record level of the data source?

Unknown

  • Does this universe match the stated intentions for the data collection? If not, what has been included or excluded and why?

Unknown

  • What is the sampling technique used (if applicable)? 

  • What was the coverage?

Unknown


Stability/Coherence

  • Were there any changes to the universe of data being captured (including geographical areas covered) and if so what were they?

Unknown

  • Were there any changes in the data capture method and if so what were they? 

Unknown

  • Were there any changes in the sources of data and if so what were they? 

Unknown


Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the data’s owner.

Unknown

 

Accessibility

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source, such as for confidentiality reasons)? 

Unknown

  • Is there a subset of variables and/or data that is must be obtained through a separate process? If yes, is there a separate legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source? Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Unknown


Privacy and security

  • Was consent given by participant? If so, how was consent given?

Public data

  • Are there legal limitations or restrictions on the use of the data? 

None stated

  • What confidentiality policies does the source have? 

As agents of the county, we need to treat the data like any other county employee in regards to confidentiality and security.

 

Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? (e.g., impact of policies, predictors of student success)

None stated

  • Include any links to research if provided:
  • List any other data use notes provided by the supplier.

 

Gaps/Concerns

  • Feasibility - can all jurisdiction levels provide the data (if applicable)?
  • Data ownership - a lack of clarity in legal guidance stemming from a lack of clarity with who owns digital data?
  • Data collection authority - what data is reasonably private and what constitutes unwarranted intrusion?
  • Describe any other notes you have or any gaps/concerns you see with this dataset: