New York City crime map
CrimePing is a free iPhone app that maps police-reported crime in New York City using the New York City Police Department’s official open data. It shows NYPD complaints around the point you choose, in all five boroughs, with no account and no ads.
Coming soon toiPhone
How CrimePing worksWhere New York City’s reports come from
Every report on CrimePing’s New York City map comes from the NYPD’s complaint data, published through the City of New York’s open-data program. A complaint is a crime reported to the NYPD: a felony, a misdemeanor or a violation. CrimePing doesn’t add or edit complaints. Your phone requests them directly from the city’s data.
This data works differently from the other cities. It holds complaints from the current year and is published quarterly. Each release adds the months since the one before, so between releases the most recent weeks are empty. Short ranges such as 24H and 7D often show nothing; 90D and 1Y are the useful ones here. Because the file covers the current year, even 1Y can’t reach back past January.
A New York report in CrimePing shows the offense, a more specific police description, the borough, the type of premises (a street, a residence or a store, for example), the offense level, whether the crime was completed or attempted, and the precinct. The NYPD’s published complaints don’t include a street address, so reports show the borough and precinct instead.
What kinds of reports appear
NYPD offense descriptions include petit larceny, grand larceny, felony assault, robbery, burglary, criminal mischief, harassment and dangerous drugs. CrimePing keeps the NYPD’s description and sorts each complaint into one of six colored categories:
- Violent: felony assault, misdemeanor assault and robbery.
- Property: petit and grand larceny, burglary and criminal mischief.
- Vehicle: grand larceny of a motor vehicle.
- Fraud: fraud, forgery and related offenses.
- Drugs: dangerous drugs.
- Other: everything else. Harassment complaints, for example, appear as Other.
Color shows the type of complaint. For seriousness, look at the offense level on the report, which is the NYPD’s own: felony, misdemeanor or violation.
How to check crime near a New York City address
Open CrimePing
Tap Use my location on the welcome screen, or pick New York to start in Midtown Manhattan.
Center the address
Drag the map until the address is in the middle, then tap Search this area. CrimePing searches around a point on the map, not a typed address.
Choose a radius
In Manhattan, about 20 street blocks make a mile, so a quarter mile is roughly five blocks up or down an avenue. Half a mile, 1, 2 and 5 miles are in Settings.
Choose a time range
Start with 90D or 1Y, since the data arrives once a quarter.
Open a complaint
Tap a dot for the full record, including the offense level, premises and precinct. Recent lists the same complaints, and Trends compares this period with the one before.
Save a watch zone
In Alerts, save a place such as Home or Work with a radius of up to 2 miles. In New York, a watch zone will be quiet for weeks and then catch up when the next quarterly release is published.
The five boroughs
The NYPD’s data covers Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, and every complaint is tagged with its borough and precinct. That makes it easy to tell, for example, whether a report near a borough line falls on your side of it.
Nassau and Westchester counties, including Yonkers, have their own police departments, so their reports aren’t in the NYPD’s data.
Why New York reports say “Latest”
CrimePing puts the newest report in your circle in a card at the bottom of the map and labels it “Breaking” only when it’s under two hours old. Quarterly data is never that fresh, so in New York you’ll see “Latest” with the report’s age.
Read the map with care
- Complaints are preliminary. The NYPD can reclassify or correct a complaint after it’s published. CrimePing shows the current version each time it loads.
- Locations are approximate. Treat each pin as an area, not a particular building.
- A complaint isn’t a conviction. It records what was reported to police, not what a court decided.
- Not everything is reported. Some incidents never reach police, so a quiet map isn’t a promise.
- It isn’t for emergencies. CrimePing can’t contact police. In an emergency, call 911.
New York City crime map: common questions
Is there a crime map for New York City?
Yes. CrimePing maps NYPD complaint data from the city’s open data on an iPhone, across the five boroughs. It’s free, with no account and no ads, and it’s coming soon to the App Store.
Why don’t I see last week’s New York reports?
The NYPD publishes this data quarterly, as a year-to-date file. Recent weeks appear when the next release comes out, so use the 90D or 1Y range.
What is an NYPD complaint?
A crime reported to the NYPD, recorded as a felony, a misdemeanor or a violation. CrimePing shows the offense level on each report.
Why don’t New York reports show a street address?
The NYPD’s published complaint data doesn’t include street addresses. CrimePing shows the borough, precinct and type of premises instead, with the pin at the published location.
Does the data cover all five boroughs?
Yes. The NYPD’s data covers Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island, and each complaint is tagged with its borough.
Does CrimePing rate New York neighborhoods?
No. It shows what was reported, where and when. It doesn’t rank neighborhoods, predict crime or give safety scores.