QUÉBEC CITY, Esri Canada User Conference – April 19, 2017 – In November 2016, the Ville de Gatineau Police Department (SPVG) unveiled a new web tool for raising public awareness of local crime. The SPVG’s crime portal, an interactive map showing where incidents have incurred, enables residents to monitor criminal activity throughout the municipality. In recognition of this achievement, Esri Canada today presented an Award of Excellence to Ville de Gatineau for its outstanding use of geographic information system (GIS) technology.

“Ville de Gatineau’s intuitive crime portal makes it easy for citizens to stay informed on local crime,” said Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada. “When people are aware of what’s happening in their community, they’re more likely to take the appropriate crime prevention measures and help make their neigbourhoods safer.”

Gatineau’s interactive map displays seven different types of crimes: break and enter, arson, mischief, robbery, theft of property from a motor vehicle, motor vehicle theft and assault. To protect victims’ privacy, the SPVG has purposely removed certain details from the public map. For example, incident locations are not depicted with pinpoint accuracy and buildings are not shown at all. Map users can filter incidents by type of crime as well as time periods like the last seven days, the last month or the current year. The map is updated daily with the latest SPVG crime data.

“Since we launched the online portal, there’s been a marked decrease in the number of requests for crime data, especially from journalists and academic researchers,” said Richard Quinn, GIS specialist, SPVG. “This translates into significant cost savings for the City. As well, this new self-service portal has made it easier for our municipal partners to complete their application for crime prevention program funding due to better access to current local crime data.”

This innovative GIS tool was jointly developed by the SPVG and Gatineau’s IT Department using ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS API for JavaScript. Accessible from most computers, tablets and smartphones, the crime portal has become popular with residents. Following its November launch, the crime map received approximately 23,000 visits in just under three months, which is very impressive because Gatineau has 265,000 residents.

Gatineau hopes that its transparent, GIS-powered approach to publishing crime data will not only reduce the number of incidents but also increase public trust in the SPVG and strengthen community-police partnerships. In March, the City officially recognized the crime portal project team for their innovation, creativity and originality.

To learn more about ArcGIS, visit esri.ca/arcgis.

About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission-critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography.  The company distributes the world's leading GIS software from Esri, Schneider Electric, Cityworks–Azteca Systems, Inc. and other technology partners.  Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada. Esri Canada joined the elite rank of Canada’s Best Managed companies in 2012 and became a Gold Standard winner in 2015. The company has also been named to the Branham300 and Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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