New Crime Map Gives McHenry County Sheriff Fight Crime

McHenry County Sherriff’s deputies have a new tool _ a Crime Mapping Program _ to track crime that also helps the public find out about crime in their neighborhood.

The McHenry County Geographic Information Systems Department spent six months taking a complicated idea from conceptualization to a crime-mapping program that helps the sheriff’s office fight crime smarter, according to a release.

A component of the program includes a public use sit where the general public can review crime trends in the county’s jurisdiction and send tips to CrimeStoppers anonymously.

“Tips from the public have always been an important part of fighting crime,” stated Undersheriff Andy Zinke. “This new website, created by the County’s GIS Department provides the public a powerful new tool in their efforts to help law enforcement.”

The MCSO Crime Mapping Program also includes an internal crime map that is very user friendly and is now used to create monthly crime trend reports in minutes (saving the MCSO Intelligence Unit about 30 man hours each month). 

Sheriff’s deputies can use the program to create daily and weekly crime reports that shift commanders can use to allocate resources more efficiently and provide residents with even higher quality public safety, according to the release.

The McHenry County Emergency Telephone System Board also worked on this collaboration by providing data for the MCSO Crime Mapping Program.

The MCSO Crime Mapping Program can be found on the sheriff’s website under the “Crime Mapping” tab.