Baltimore leaders announce launch of Public Safety Accountability Dashboard
BALTIMORE -- Mayor Brandon Scott announced the release of Baltimore's first-ever Public Safety Accountability Dashboard.
The Dashboard is a "data tool designed to provide greater levels of transparency and allow the public to hold agencies accountable for executing agreed upon strategies and identifying best practices for measuring effectiveness of the administration's public safety efforts," according to city leaders.
The dashboard tracks crimes and arrests by numerous metrics.
For example, the "convictions and dispositions" page allows people to follow along after an arrest, and shows how things play out in the courts.
"Data is a powerful public asset," Mayor Scott said.
The dashboard was developed under the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagament (MONSE). Its director, Shantay Jackson, says the dashboard will be "ever-evolving" with new features and data points every six months.
The dashboard will be updated as the numbers come in.
The dashboard will be updated as the numbers come in and new features and data points will be added every six months.
"Evaluation and accountability are central pillars of Baltimore's Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan, because when it comes to public safety, progress can and should be measured," Mayor Scott said. "The Public Safety Accountability Dashboard provides a real-time look at the numbers that inform our data-driven efforts in ways that directly address Baltimore's latest public safety trends."
The dashboard aggregates public safety metrics, data and experiences into a single portal that is publicly accessible to Baltimoreans for the first time.
"This innovative tool is core to upholding my commitment to transparency and accessibility in ways that also bring City government into the 21st century," Mayor Scott said. "I look forward to the further partnership cultivated by the dashboard with Baltimoreans across the city to increase public safety for all."
In December, Mayor Scott announced an expansion in the city's "group violence reduction strategy," credited with reducing homicides and non-fatal shootings in the city's "western district" by 34 percent.
The strategy leverages intervention services to those identified as "high risk" to be victims of violence.
While the Western district is trending safer, the same can't be said of other parts of Baltimore.
Police data reveals 53 homicides in the city's Southern District in the past year.
Eastern District follows but has experienced the most shootings.
Officials hope to use data to inform them on where to direct not just police, but other services.
"We're now able to paint a much deeper and clearer picture for our residents and we're always going to use this to inform what happens on the street," Mayor Scott said.
Officials hope the dashboard educates the public on why the city is using certain services in certain communities.
"This dashboard is another tool that exemplifies BPD's commitment to transparency, collaboration and accountability in building trust and creating a well-informed public. The ability to combine data with our public safety partners represents something new among other law enforcement agencies and cities," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael S. Harrison. "This tool reaffirms our partnership with the communities we serve and creates a safer Baltimore through data-driven strategies."
You can view the dashboard here.
