At the neighborhood potluck at the beginning of this month, we were pleased to be told by our resident Spokane Police officer that Emerson-Garfield had one of the city’s lowest neighborhood crime rates this summer.

But that doesn’t mean crime doesn’t happen here. The image below shows crimes that have taken place in the last month in the general area of our neighborhood. Darker areas = higher reported crimes.

This isn’t top-secret information — it comes from City of Spokane’s very useful, interactive, up-to-date crime map. You can find it here. (And, by the way, many more informative maps can be found on the city’s GIS page.)

On the crime map, you can view a street or satellite map of the entire city with colored overlays that represent the relative number of reported — and the key word is reported — crimes. You can view problem areas (i.e., hot spots) within the past month or the past year. You can also view crimes according to category: assault, burglary, drugs, malicious mischief, robbery, theft, vehicle prowling, and vehicle theft.

If you’re experiencing problems with crime, we encourage you to call the police and report it, regardless of whether or not you think they will do anything about it. As we are often reminded, the police can’t address crimes that we don’t report.

Once you’ve reported your crime, make a point of attending the next Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting (as of this posting, the next one is scheduled for September 12). That’s where we can come together as a neighborhood — and likewise rise to any trending problems as a neighborhood too.