Open Data > 2 Mesa Crime Maps

To start with, it is not the intention of your MesaZona blogger  "to dig up dirt" about public safety or policing practices. This is simply for the purpose of public information if you choose to use it.
Most people would agree that the Mesa police department and public safety agencies are doing a good job, getting the respect and admiration all men and women in blue rightfully deserve.
It is reassuring in the minds of the public feeling safe to have a presence on the streets, whether in uniform or undercover, on foot, in police cars or bike patrol ready on-the-spot for quick-response to any incident at any time of the day or night.
Local news is filled all the time with crime reports, but when a couple of news stories about what happened here in Mesa last week gets reported in international news that might negatively impact the image of this city it's time to take a look at the big picture and data.

This post's headline map image can be found at http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/az/mesa/crime/ . It's basically a source of information for people who are considering purchasing real estate here in Mesa with a lot of important statistics for safest neighborhoods, appreciation rates, public schools and crime data.
What caught yours truly's eyes the other day walking back from Wilkes University was to see and catch this live-action report-in-progress by a crew [of two] from Channel 12 filming outside of police headquarters under shade trees on N Robson Street. An indoor press conference had just wrapped up about a shocking incident of child abuse and sex-trafficking here in Mesa - sensational news that grabbed headlines for days; handled well by the police
Controversy - and possible lawsuits - arose in a different incident some days later that got the usual local police incident report coverage and seemed to end at that, but it's churned up reports from other parts of the country and now an overseas report from Britain's The Guardian where a grieving widow is questioning the killing of her unarmed husband who was staying here in Mesa for frequent pest control business trips. That story will unfold and gain more attention, but we'll leave that to other reporting.

The other source for a Mesa crime map comes from this resource >>  http://spotcrime.com/az/mesa .
It reports incidents of arrest, arson, assaults, burglary, robbery, shootings, thefts, vandalism and other [?].
SpotCrime is a crime data aggregator.
They map the crime incidents, plot them on Google Maps, and deliver alerts via email, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, RSS and a multitude of other platforms.

The data comes from police departments, news reports and user-generated content.

Their goal is to provide the most accurate, timely geocoded crime information to the public. The site maps crime and deliver alerts if you want to get those.

The open release of datasets like CAD/RMS, use of force, arrests, officer involved shootings, and complaints give the community an ‘inside’ look of day-to-day events within an agency. This type of transparency introduces a constructive line of communication between the community and police agencies. Problems and red flags can be identified quickly and collaboratively.

• Cities like Seattle, DC, LA, and Portland have been releasing these kinds of datasets for years.
• Albuquerque, Detroit, and New Orleans recently began releasing this data.
• Baltimore added arrest and calls for service datasets to their open data portal around the time of the Freddie Gray protests.
• NYPD recently announced the new public version of CompStat (they’re calling it CompStat 2).