While attending the recent SocialDevCamp in Baltimore MD, I had the opportunity to see a lot of the cool startups that are popping up across the area. I sat in one of the sessions with Colin Drane, founder of SpotCrime. I did not have a chance to chat with Colin, but I noted hi company to follow up with.
The on Thursday heading downtown to see Larry Page talk at Google Unwired, I saw SpotCrime spotlighted on Techcrunch .. damn they beat me to the punch yet again… 
SpotCrime is a pretty cool concept and use of a google maps mashup. In essence, SpotCrime taps into local police databases and is able to display that data on a google map for you to view. As it is right now, they have a limited number of cities they are drawing from, but hopefully they will be rounding that out. Here is a look at the local Baltimore map with the incidents annotated.
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Techcrunch noted that
While it’s hard to believe that the police don’t already know about the rougher areas of town, the visual overlays could conceivably held them identify trends. Other potential applications of the data include real estate evaluation, and (for more paranoid users) “safe” driving routes mapped by GPS.
I think another great applicaion for this is prior to moving to a new area. When I have looked at buying my last couple of houses, I have taken the time at night to drive through the neighborhood and see if anything untoward may be going on. This would be a great tool for prospective buyers to look at the area they are looking to move into in order to get a gauge on the crime in that area.
