By: Chris Brubaker

Have you ever wondered what was going on when you drove by a car pulled over by 2 or 3 police cars. Well now you can continue on without a wonder in the world because once you get home you’ll be able to figure everything out by logging onto the Oakland Crimespotting website (if you live in Oakland that is). The site gathers its data from the Oakland police departments website and displays it in a very cool interactive map. The map allows you to choose different types of crimes over a specific time frame. You can then wander the city by dragging through the map to see where the crimes are taking place most often.

Currently the site only covers Oakland, California but is a great benchmark for future websites that would like to do the same thing across the country. Could this be a tool for real estate agents? You bet. Connecting clients with applications like these can give agents an added tool to provide to their clients when searching for a place to move. For those of us not living in Oakland, CA check out these sites:

http://www.bestplaces.net/crime/ - Provides crime data comparisons between multiple cities.

http://www.cityrating.com/crimestatistics.asp - This site doesn’t have every place in the US but it does provide great crime statistics for the cities it does have.

http://www.neighboroo.com/ - Is a great site that offers demographic data for neighborhoods including crime statistics (although at the time of this post the site is down for renovations)

Even if you don’t live in Oakland check out Crimespotting, I’m sure it will peak your interest.

How does crime affect a property’s ability to sell?

Denver Real Estate