Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials are changing procedures for how crime data is released to the public, officials said Thursday.
The move came in response to concerns about how unverified crime reports were being automatically reported online, and an attempt at greater accuracy, according to officials.
The new release method aims to be more accurate; however, in order to do that, the Sheriff’s Department plans to release the information on a monthly basis while it assesses procedure, said Capt. Darren Harris of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s crime statistics will now be posted on LASD.org on a monthly basis,” Harris said Thursday, in an email.
“This recent change will ensure the Department provides verified official crime data to the public, on a regular basis and in a transparent manner. This same verified data is also submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) on a monthly basis.”
Previously, the data was available within 24-48 hours of a report, through the Crimemapping.com site. As some Santa Clarita Valley residents have noticed in recent weeks, that service has been “temporarily disabled,” Harris added.
The goal there was also more accurate crime reporting, he said, which would verified as opposed to automated
“It is expected that this data feed will be resumed in the near future,” he said. “Although the data will not be provided on a daily basis, as was the past practice, the (Sheriff’s) Department is committed to providing accurate information in our continuing effort to build public confidence through transparency.”
Crimemapping’s site still reports data for several areas surrounding the Santa Clarita Valley with data being reported through local police stations, which was visible through a recent search on the site.
