Visualizing crime and increasing transparency in Seattle

As a rapidly growing city, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) is frequently challenged to quickly address crime hotspots and trends in the city. Yet with disparate data sources and crime definitions, precincts were often incosistently measured, and the public left in the dark.

Through the launch of SeaStat, a program designed to improve public safety outcomes through data and evidence-based practices, The City of Seattle and SPD were able to better understand the volume and type of crime throughout the city, to more effectively address concerns and increase public transparency. As the program has evolved, static PDF reports have been transitioned into self-service dashboards allowing both city leaders and the public to ask and answer their own questions.

Begin by filtering to a specific neighborhood, year, or precinct to interact with the dashboard. Use the tooltip to better understand the volume of crime and public safety perceptions in each neighborhood and precinct of Seattle.