#crime data

The Dallas Police Department just lost 8TB of crime data

The purpose of backing up your data is to prevent situations where the original files are the only copies and they have lost, accidentally deleted, or become inaccessible due to a hardware problem. But what happens when you delete an archive? Unfortunately, this happened to the Dallas Police Department, they lost 8TB of crime data.

There’s evidence that a local administrator unintentionally erased more than 8TB of city data during a regular transfer in April. 8Terabytes is the equivalent of 8,000 gigabytes. Perhaps you’re asking why we’re only hearing about it now if this happened in April? Due to the length of time it took to get the proper answer A few days ago, they only learned about it, according to the city mayor and county district attorney.

What does this mean after the data has deleted? These files contain images, videos, audio, case notes, and other items that police collect from their daily work. It has believed that this could jeopardize many legal proceedings as they no longer have access to the materials after Dallas Police Department lost 8TB of crime data which they may need in their case.

In fact, we have already seen the consequences of this. An Associated Press report claims that a man, Jonathan Pitts, has released on bail after charged with murder. In order to prevent evidence connected to his case from being destroyed by mistake.

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Speaking of crime data in Milwaukee, my prototype web app is now available. Feedback welcomed!

As reported in today’s Journal Sentinel, Matthew Desmond (et. al.) has published new research that finds an association between the 2004 Frank Jude beating and the rate of 911 calls in Milwaukee:

[W]e find that residents of Milwaukee’s neighborhoods, especially residents of black neighborhoods, were far less likely to report crime after Jude’s beating was broadcast.

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Police misconduct can powerfully suppress one of the most basic forms of civic engagement: calling 911 for matters of personal and public safety.

Going further, Desmond suggests a link between the post-Jude decrease in 911 calls and a subsequent spike homicides. As Desmond told the Journal Sentinel:

"I think the pattern of homicide data does suggest the drop in crime reporting in the immediate aftermath of Frank Jude might have contributed to that spike in a major way."

FBI data debunks Maine Gov. LePage’s racist claims

There’s no evidence to support Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s outrageous allegation that Blacks and Hispanics make up more than 90 percent of drug traffickers into his state. The Denver Post reports that an Associated Press analysis of FBI data finds that the real figure is far lower.

LePage came under fire in January when he saiddrug traffickers from New York City and Connecticut, with names like…