Police Data Portal

About the Data

Overview of the Dataset

The data for this dashboard was pulled directly from Pittsburgh Bureau of Police’s (PBP) record management system, which houses all records of reported criminal activity. A police report is a formal document detailing circumstances of a criminal event brought to the attention of law enforcement. It should be noted that police reports are not the same as a call for service records. While reports may be filed as the result of a call for service, not all calls result in a report.

This specific dashboard only focuses on incidents of violent and property-related crimes. Formal definitions of these offenses are found under the “Key Definitions” section.

While the dataset provides a general overview of some criminal activity that occurs across the city, it is not reflective of all work performed by PBP officers and personnel. Additionally, reports are not the official, vetted record of crime. PBP currently utilizes the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) system to code data to state and national standards.

After receiving a report, police must investigate to determine whether a crime actually occurred. If there is sufficient evidence to support the complaint, personnel discern which category the incident falls under as defined by the FBI. The final offense designation may or may not be the same as the initial crime listed in the report. Additionally, there may be changes to the reports overtime (ex. aggravated assault that eventually becomes a homicide). Those revisions are not reflected in this dashboard.

For more information on UCR data collection, please visit https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr

Key Definitions

Update Frequency
This dashboard will be updated manually by the Crime Analysis Unit on a monthly basis between the 1st and 5th day of the month. As the Bureau transitions to a new Records Management System (RMS), we look to establish a close to real-time data feed that would permit more regular updates to the information.

Timeframe Covered
Year-to-Date 2023

Privacy Protections
All information is provided at the incident-level. Violent crimes of a sexual nature (i.e., rapes) have been excluded from the dataset that populates this dashboard. No personally identifying information are attached to the incidents and all address information have been masked to the block-level.

About the Visualizations and their Functionality

Dashboard Filters

All the filters listed below interact with the Activity Map, Statistics Overview, and Data Export tabs:

• Police Zone
  • Lists all 6 police zones and filters neighborhoods to their respective zone
• Neighborhood*
  • Lists all 90 neighborhoods within the City of Pittsburgh; appears filtered if a police zone is selected
• Crime Type*
  • Aggravated Assault, Arson, Burglary, Homicide, Robbery, Shooting, Theft, Theft from Vehicle, and Vehicle Theft
• Date
  • There are two options to filter date:
    • Predefined options
      • Last 30 Days
      • Year-to-Date
    • Calendar view
      • Able to specify a date range of interest up through the most recent data update

A blue circle with an arrow is located on the right-hand corner of the page. That is the reset button. Clicking that button will restore the entire dashboard to its original view.

* = Able to make multiple selections within the same filter

Interactive Activity Map

This map plots geographic information (XY coordinates) derived from the locations provided by officers in an official police report. To protect the privacy of crime victims, all addresses are presented in the block address format and the map element will zoom to a certain extent before all points disappear.

Within the map environment, a legend is also available. This feature outlines each of the point symbols by crime type.

There are also two additional visualizations:

Statistics Overview

This tab presents several visuals (i.e., counts, bar and line graphs) that depict crime trends based on the filters applied by the user.

Descriptions of Visuals:

• 2023 Year-to-Date Depicts total count of police reports (for violent and property crimes only) thus far in 2023.
• Last 30 Days: Depicts total count of police reports (for violent and property crimes only) within the last 30 days from the most recent data update. Below the count is a percent change from the previous 30 days.
• Last 60 Days: Depicts total count of police reports (for violent and property crimes only) within the last 60 days from the most recent data update. Below the count is a percent change from the previous 60 days.
• Violent Crime: Bar graph of violent crime report counts by offense.
• Property Crime: Bar graph of property crime report counts by offense.
• Reported Activity Over Time: Line graph of crime report counts by date.

Data Export

This tab presents users with a table of data available for export by clicking the small down-arrow in the left-hand corner. It corresponds with all filters applied to the dashboard.

The available fields for export are as followed: