Online tool gives public closer look at Fairfield police data
The online tool is accessible through the police department’s website and updates daily.
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In today's world, so much information is at our fingertips. Now, the Fairfield Police Department has added more with its Interactive Crime and Statistical Dashboard, which gives the public access to key police data including, crashes, crime trends and arrests in town.
“As a police department, we're always getting requests for information, especially if there's a police presence somewhere,” said Sgt. Mike Stahl, adding that while police use social media and emergency alerts for major incidents, they wanted to add a public resource for other things.
The online tool is accessible through the police department’s website and updates daily. It includes numbers, maps and charts with data going back to 2021.
“Every morning, it pulls the previous day’s information, so you're going to see calls for service, you're going to see maps of car accident locations, motor vehicle stops. You're going to see the last week's worth of actual arrests of individuals,” Stahl explained.
The platform launched in October but was in the works for a while, according to Stahl. It allows the user to hone in on specific time frames, neighborhoods or types of incidents.
“Every part of the dashboard is interactive. You click on something, and it's going to filter everything else out on that page,” Stahl said. “If you zoom on a map and you click one of the dots, it's going to show you what that incident was.”
Some information may be left out or altered to protect people's privacy or the integrity of ongoing investigations. Stahl told News 12 the response to the dashboard has been positive and has encouraged people to have conversations about what’s going on in their neighborhoods.
“We are always trying to be a proactive agency with providing the public information they're looking for, the services they expect and deserve, and this is just one of those steps,” Stahl stated.
Police want input on the platform from the community for future updates or additions.
“We don't want this to be a stagnant program. We want to continually improve it, so it is empowering the public to make these decisions to ensure that their homes are protected, they're safe and they know what's going on around them,” said Stahl.
To explore the dashboard, click here.
