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Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct information about what features were included in the previous version of the crime data portal and an incorrect link.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office announced the launch of its new crime and arrest data portal, an updated version of the agency’s previous crime data portal.
The portal, accessible through the Sheriff’s Office website, provides community members with up-to-date crime, traffic collision, public disturbance and arrest data. Users can search for crime data by date, location, and type of crime, and arrest data by name, description, criminal charges and the place of arrest.
According to Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gretchen Spiker, the agency’s crime data and records management vendor, Sun Ridge Systems, is phasing out the old system used to track public crime data, and replacing it with a new system with an updated interface.
Spiker said that the new portal has some additional features that were not available with the agency’s previous crime data portal. She added that the Sheriff’s Office hopes to continue introducing additional features over the coming months.
The portal has included crime and arrest data for the past three months, but Spiker said the Sheriff’s Office plans to add older data to the tool in the coming months.
“It’s important for our community members to be able to access the portal to see the type of crimes that are affecting their neighborhoods,” said Sheriff Christina Corpus in a press release. “This lends to transparency and increasing awareness within the community, leading to a safer San Mateo County.”
But, the updated portal interface does not include all arrests in San Mateo County. It only covers arrests made by the Sheriff’s Office, and omits information regarding juvenile offenders or crimes that are “sensitive in nature” to protect privacy, according to Spiker.
“The Sheriff’s Office aims to post real-time data, while balancing accuracy, privacy concerns and investigative steps,” said Spiker. “To ensure we’re providing the most accurate data to the community, information does not get published to the portal until the case goes through an internal review process.”
“Typically, in-custody arrests and crimes involving a suspect who has been arrested are posted to the portal within two days,” she added.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the launch of the new crime data portal just two days after a special election resulted in overwhelming support for Measure A — a ballot measure that would empower the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to remove Corpus from her post with a four-fifths vote.
The ballot measure was put up for a vote by the Board following the release of an independent investigation into Corpus and her executive team that revealed alleged corruption, abuse of power, retaliation and possible illegal activity.
