(Photo by Lorenzo Rui)
The Springfield Police Department released its Quarterly Public Safety Report (QPSR) on Wednesday. The issue provides details about SPD’s commitment to open data sharing.
SPD is one of 130 law enforcement agencies around the country that currently participates in The Police Foundation’s Police Data Initiative (PDI). The PDI is a collaboration between law enforcement agencies to share data with each other and make that information readily available to the public through each agency’s respective websites.
Through PDI, SPD shares data on their website about a wide variety of topics. Some of those topics include hate crime data, officer-involved shooting incidents, traffic-related statistics and much more.
They’ve also revamped the front page sidebar to feature safety tips. This quarter we have highlighted motorcycle safety to include safety tips for those who ride motorcycles as well as other vehicles on the roadway.
The QPSR also features Springfield crime statistics for the firth quarter of 2019. Between January and March, SPD reported an overall increase in crime by 2 percent, compared to the same time frame in 2018.
Crimes against persons (violent crime) increased by 28 percent compared to the first quarter of 2018, while there was a three percent decrease in crimes against property.