FAQs

Analytics

What crime data is being shown?

Our crime stats reflect what is defined by Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) standards as Group A Crimes. This includes crimes such as Murder, Assaults, Fraud, and Drug charges. Some crimes like DUIs or Runaways fall under Group B Crimes in UCR. We do not have data on Group B Crimes in our portal at this time, but we hope to include this data set in the future. Currently that data can be found on the Idaho State UCR Repository.

What is the date range of the data presented?

Our crime stats reflect a rolling 5-year period and are recent up to 10 days ago. For example, if you are looking at our map on October 1, 2023, the oldest date you would see is January 1, 2018, and the most recent would be around September 21, 2023, depending on time of day.

How is BPD's crime data measured?

Our crime statistics are based on a count of charges in a case that is reported to the state. When reporting our statistics to the State, we follow the standards laid out by the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). So, in reviewing our data we elected to only include charges that are reported to the state in our portal.

Why are some crime categories showing a different count when compared to the annual reporting from the State?

Following National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) standards, the State does a count of victim per charge per case for certain crimes. We are only presenting individual charges per case. Our data is also more up to date, as our map shows data as recent as 10 days ago, whereas we only submit crimes to the State on a monthly basis.

What is the source for BPD's crime data?

We use our Records Management System (RMS) as our source for crime data. When an incident occurs, the data is entered and processed into our RMS. We have a team dedicated to reviewing cases and ensuring our crime stats are accurate and timely for submission to the State on a monthly basis. Part of our reason for implementing a 10-day delay in publishing the data is to allow our team to review cases/charges.

Are any crimes not included in the data?

Yes. Some limitations have been placed on the data that makes it to our Portal. Some examples of this included a case that we may have a report for but is sent to an outside agency because it occurred in another jurisdiction or a case involving a sex crime. It is worth noting that while sex crimes are not viewable on the map, you can still view the overall data of certain sex crimes in a table format here. In some cases, releasing information preliminarily could jeopardize an investigation and in those limited instances the data may be delayed showing up on the portal.

Customer Service

How can I get data from more than 5 years ago?

Please submit a Public Records Request via our online form that can be found here.

Who can I inform if a link doesn't work?

Please email the Crime Analysis Unit if you encounter any links on our site that do not work as expected. Please include the page name in the subject line.

Where do I submit my feedback/suggestions?

Any suggestions and feedback can be emailed to our Crime Analysis Unit.

Who do I contact if I have questions about the data on the Boise Police Data Portal?

Please email our Crime Analysis Unit if you have any questions about the data on the Boise Police Data Portal and someone from our team will reach out to you as soon as possible.

If the data I want is not on the Boise Police Data Portal, how can I request it? Is this process different if I am an academic, work for a government agency, or if this is a media request?

If the data on the Boise Police Data Portal does not sufficiently meet your needs, you may want to submit a Public Records Request here.

Can I use data from the Boise Police Data Portal for commercial/educational purposes?

Data provided on the Boise Police Data Portal is open and available to be utilized for any purposes.

Data Privacy

How is privacy protected within the site?

Prior to the release of any dataset, the data goes through a privacy assessment to ensure that any personal identifiers/confidential information is removed from the dataset. Additionally, for all cases uploaded to the map, all geospatial information is masked to the center of the nearest street.

Mapping

I'd like to use the data from the Crime Stats to build a product/application. How can I access it? Do you have an API?

The data can be accessed via the City of Boise Open Data Platform by searching for some of the key terms related to our data like "crimes" When the dataset is open, there is a guide to utilize the API that is built into the platform at the bottom of the options panel on the left-hand side. You can use these resources to manually download the data into a form such as an Excel document or utilize the API and integrate the data into an app or automated process of some kind.

What is the update frequency of the mapping applications?

The update frequencies are as follows:

• The Crime Stats data is updated daily to show as recently as 10 days ago.
• Community Officer is updated as needed when people shift roles within the Boise Police Department or as assignments change.

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Open Data

City of Boise Open Data

The datasets in this portal are a part of the City of Boise’s Open Data Platform where they can be easily downloaded and utilized by residents, businesses, and other agencies. More information can be found here.

User Experience

Where else can I find other data or publications from the Boise Police Department?

Publications by the Boise Police Department can be found here.

Where can I see all the data that is available on the Boise Police Data Portal?

All datasets available on the Boise Police Data Portal are available through the City of Boise Open Data platform and can be found here. This page identifies if the data is available for download, as well as the other tools/products that are available which report on the topic.

Is it possible to export the maps available on the Boise Police Data Portal?

For the Public Crime Map we've added a ""Print"" feature that will allow for the export of any queried map.

However, you could take a screenshot of any mapping application or dashboard provided if the ""Print"" feature is not available.

How do I download data for a dataset?

To download the data, select the 'Download' button on the right-hand side of the left-most panel and select the format you would like to download the data in. The data will then download.