Police launch website mapping crime reports on campus

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department has launched a new website that offers the campus community the opportunity to view information on crime reports, missing people, stolen vehicles, and more on a map of campus.

“The police department wants to make sure the community is informed about safety issues on the campus, and one way of doing that is by ensuring they have access to crime and incident information,” Chief Nader Oweis said.

The website gives users the option to narrow a search by date (up to 30 days in the past) and type of crime report. Users can also see crime reports as pushpins or a heat map.

The site should also help the department detect trends and patterns to crime, Oweis said.

The department has long posted a summary of crime reports on its website. However, the new site pulls that information and overlays it on a map. Additionally, the site will list the department’s Clery Act crime and fire log going back 60 days.

Each October, the department releases the Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report, which provides crime statistics as well as information on safety and security prevention and protection programs and much more. In addition, the University of California publishes a report on crime throughout the UC system.