Data can be deceptive. There is a constant parade of listicles published claiming that ten places are the most dangerous, unfriendly, depressing, or whatever adjective the creators believe will get people to click. Information is powerful and when presented without care, can be wielded as a weapon, the kind that can solidify stereotypes.
This map shows arrests in Hartford from January through August 2014, using HartfordData information. All that we can definitely know from looking at this is that these are the places where people have been caught (allegedly) with one or more substances, and that it is much more common to be arrested for possession than possession-with-intent-to-sell or actual sale.
Some things to consider when looking at the map:
- not all arrests are of Hartford residents, though this info is not spelled out in HartfordData. A routine read of the police arrest log will fill in details about demographics. For instance, over the weekend a Manchester resident was arrested for possession with intent to sell and carrying a dangerous weapon on Capitol Avenue.
- not all arrests result in conviction.
- not everyone who uses or sells is getting arrested.
- a number of these arrests occurred alongside another crime; for instance, someone was caught trespassing and was then found to be in possession of marijuana.
- many of these arrests occur in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.
- most of these arrests are not happening on properties with large backyards or single-family homes.
- some institutions may possibly have decided to handle their drug issues internally, as very few, if any, arrests are shown occurring at those venues. Whether or not this method is or is not more effective at stopping crime and helping those with addiction problems, it does creative a false perception regarding drug use and sales in specific areas.
- data does not include synthetic drugs, general drugs without description, or alcohol
For a more accurate understanding of this information, we would need the surrounding towns to make their police data available.
Scott
For what it’s worth, HPL’s HartfordInfo site used to post data that tracked crimes by where the arrest was made AND the place of residence of the person arrested, like what you see in the blotter: http://hartfordinfo.org/hpd/arrests_data.asp.
It’s only updated through 2006, but that would give an idea of the share of arrests of non-Hartford residents during that time period. For drug possession, it looks like about 20 – 25% are non-residents.
Kerri Provost
Thanks for that info. It’s too bad that HartfordInfo is not really being updated anymore. I found that really useful.
I’ve been posting this data here because I think when people rely on only reading about crime in the newspaper or watching it on the news, they get this distorted sense about what is happening where. I encourage readers to go right to the sources of data themselves so that they can parse it and see how they feel without the sensationalism found in so many news broadcasts.