nypd-arrest-visualization

1 Introduction

As new students in NYC, we are constantly exposed to crime-related updates through Clery Crime Alerts from Columbia University, which emphasize the importance of staying informed about local safety concerns. Additionally, Columbia’s initiatives, such as self-defense classes and situational awareness events, highlight the need to understand crime dynamics in our community. Beyond personal safety, this topic provides us an opportunity to examine broader societal concerns, including the effectiveness of public safety policies and the equity of law enforcement. This motivated us to explore NYC’s arrest data to gain deeper insights about the trend and distributions across the city.

Our primary focus is to analyze and highlight the crime frequency distribution across precincts in NYC from January to September 2024, as understanding these geographical patterns is crucial for identifying areas with higher or lower crime rates. Additionally, we aim to uncover temporal trends in arrests, such as fluctuations by month or time of day, to better understand when crimes are more likely to occur. Furthermore, we seek to identify the most prevalent types of crimes and examine how these vary across demographic groups, including age, sex, and race, to provide a comprehensive view of NYC’s crime dynamics.