New Live Crime Tracker Provides Real-Time Crime Data from America’s Cities
Daily tracking tool from NORC fills a critical gap in public safety data.
CHICAGO, May 29, 2024—A first-of-its-kind data tracker from NORC at the University of Chicago’s Center on Public Safety and Justice offers in-depth information on crime, violence, and victimization in cities across the United States. The Live Crime Tracker provides the public—along with policymakers, researchers, and others—with transparent, timely, and available data that can help cities respond rapidly to emerging public safety concerns.
Today, official national crime statistics are reported many months after the fact, making it difficult to recognize and respond to emergent trends. The new NORC tool responds to the need for timely information, tracking crime trends in real time—much as public health systems leverage data to detect, prevent, and control emerging diseases—and giving law enforcement agencies, public officials, and community organizations time to respond more effectively.
“The tracker fills a significant gap in timely public safety data. When up-to-date information on crime is limited, officials and the public lack needed data to identify solutions. Filling the void in crime data is critical to building trust and making cities safer.”
The online tracker—livecrimetracker.norc.org—provides real-time data for over 50 U.S. cities in eight crime categories, including homicide, burglary, and aggravated assault. The Live Crime Tracker includes in-depth city crime profiles, interactive maps, and a daily crime tracker that allows users to analyze trends over time and make comparisons across locations. It should be noted that the Tracker compiles data shared by local governments, and some of the data they report are incomplete.
“The tracker fills a significant gap in timely public safety data,” said John Roman, director of NORC’s Center on Public Safety and Justice. “When up-to-date information on crime is limited, officials and the public lack needed data to identify solutions. Filling the void in crime data is critical to building trust and making cities safer.”
NORC plans to expand the Live Crime Tracker to include data on additional cities and estimates on the cost of crime.
About NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.
Contact: For more information, please contact Eric Young at NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell).
About the Center on Public Safety & Justice
NORC’s Center on Public Safety & Justice develops actionable, evidence-based solutions to crime and victimization. The Center integrates our multidisciplinary team of experts in criminology, demography, economics, and public health and NORC’s industry-leading survey data collection capacity. Our holistic approach and longstanding partnerships with diverse local stakeholders in the hardest-hit communities allow us to identify programming innovations at every societal level.