This app is designed to be completed as its developers graduation project for a master degree in Journalism. Unlike traditional print and broadcast journalism, this project is more of data and multimedia journalism fashion, targeting on helping to solve some of the safety issues around University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The projects research focus is crimes in Urbana, IL. Its significance is to provide local crime and safety information, to build up a platform for users to evaluate the safety level of a neighborhood and report crimes, to reduce the chance of violent attacks, and to make the community safe.
Google map provides "Explore Nearby" service, with which users at their location are able to find the nearest restaurant, gas station, bank, movie theatre and so on. There is not a function that provides the users with surrounding crime information. Champaign and Urbana Police Department provide crime mapping information online, but the mapping lacks mobility. Based on huge database nationwide, the app "CrimeReports" provides crime information of the whole nation, but the information delivering is unilateral with few user interaction features. Crime Stoppers is popular in some cities in the U.S., but the Champaign-Urbana community has not yet had such kind of mobile app.
Since public security is every one’s concern, students and citizens in Champaign-Urbana area have the rights to know more about how safe their community is. With this app, users at a random spot in Urbana will be easy to get access to the safety and crime information with analysis by blocks.