Your car is a crime magnet, new police map shows

What kind of crime is most likely to befall you in Hamilton? According to Hamilton police’s new interactive crime map, it likely involves your vehicle.

The map, created by Bair Analytics using over 968 crime records dating back to June 1, tracks several types of crime — homicide, robbery, break and enter (listed as burglary on the map itself) and thefts from and of vehicles — as well as the times they were committed.

It marks the first time Hamiltonians have had the ability to see when and where crimes are happening—and which ones are happening in their neighbourhoods. On its website, Hamilton police said the information will allow residents to make "informed decisions" about their safety by observing the general crime trends throughout the city.   

• Hamilton police launch online crime map
• Calls declining, weekends busiest for Hamilton police: report

There are two important disclaimers to note before delving into the data. One, it’s important to realize the map doesn’t track the most common reasons people call the police: domestic violence. Nor does it track sexual assaults, impaired driving charges, or as drug and alcohol violations.

Two, the map doesn’t relay the overall context that crime is declining in the city.

But the map still has some insights for interested Hamiltonians.

Secure your car

Your vehicle is, according to the data, the most likely way you’ll come in contact with the world of crime. Thefts from cars are the most common crimes on the map, making up more than half of the hundreds of data points.

When that number is coupled with the reports of stolen vehicles, the two groups account for more than half of all recent crime in Hamilton.

Vehicle theft also happens almost everywhere. The problem is worst downtown, but it’s also an issue on the Mountain and in Dundas, Ancaster and Stoney Creek.

Your vehicle is most likely to be stolen at night time.

It’s unclear if the statistics factor in reports relating to bicycle or scooter theft.

Be careful downtown, on weekends

The map clearly shows the city’s downtown core is home to the most crime, something both density and social issues like poverty and drug use factor into.

While the map is just a snapshot, it matches a larger pool of data found in the officer workload report, which was presented to the city’s police services board last month.

Time-wise, both reports are in sync, showing evenings and weekends are the busiest time for police. According to the crime map’s breakdown, crime routinely picks up after 5 p.m. and reaches its heaviest point after 9 p.m. The sun currently sets in Hamilton at 4:52 p.m.

The safest day, according to recent data, is Monday.

Robbery stats include 4 swarmings

Getting robbed does happen. But it's a crime that strikes individuals less often than you may think according to the map.

There were 19 robberies from individuals dating back to Sept. 20 of this year, including seven muggings and four swarming incidents, according to the map’s data.

It’s not entirely possible to say exactly where each took place, because the data points have been "randomly offset at the request of the agency to protect victim privacy." Still, patterns emerge.

There appears to be one cluster in the Jackson Square area, as well as several cases stretching along Barton Street East. Several data points also appear to be close to the lines of King and Main Streets, which may suggest people using the bus lines along that route are targets.

Other points of interest

There’s just one homicide on the crime map — the east end murder of 66-year-old Tony Robles.

The data point doesn’t have much information on the case, but there’s a full story here.

Residential break and enters, clustered in the core but also spread out across the city, were another common data point on the map. Breaking the trend of night crime, most of the occurrences took place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 9-10 a.m.

Interestingly, there were far more commercial break and enter cases reported than straight up commercial robberies. While weekends were again common crime time, Wednesday had the most commercial robberies.