2134/27513
Anthony Quinn
Anthony
Quinn
Louise Cooke
Louise
Cooke
Mark Monaghan
Mark
Monaghan
An exploration of the progress of open crime data: how do ongoing limitations with the Police.uk website restrict a comprehensive understanding of recorded crime?
Loughborough University
2017
Open data
Police-recorded crime
Geoprivacy
Crime mapping
Government accountability
Business and Management not elsewhere classified
2017-11-20 11:38:49
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/An_exploration_of_the_progress_of_open_crime_data_how_do_ongoing_limitations_with_the_Police_uk_website_restrict_a_comprehensive_understanding_of_recorded_crime_/9472325
Open-source crime data provided by the Police.uk website was introduced in 2008. This provision challenged what had been termed a ‘top down’ political culture and was introduced to help increase government transparency and accountability. We examine these concepts here and outline some of the significant developments over the last decade related
to the information contained within the Police.uk resource. Our focus then moves towards limitations of the data set provided, some of which are as pervasive today as they were when this online data source was first
introduced. We explore whether these drawbacks are irresolvable and consider the practical implications they will have when this open data set is utilised by members of the public and researchers. Ultimately, we give
an assessment of the efficacy of this source of information for the user within the context of the government rhetoric which accompanied it.