Frequently Asked Questions - mapAsheville Crime Mapper
  1. How do I access mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
  2. What are the system requirements for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
  3. What Determines if a Crime Activity is included in this application?
  4. How do I get support for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
  5. Are there any tutorials for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
  6. How do I Find Crime Activity in my Neighborhood?
  7. How do I Find Crime Activity close to my  property?
  8. How do I Find Crime Activity close to my Address?
  9. How do I Find Crime Activity close to my Street?
  10. What do the different Crime Offenses represent?
  11. How often is the Crime data updated?
  12. How do I compare crime for different locations?
  13. What is the time period for Crime Data?
  14. What is a Crime Hot Spot?
  15. How Do I view a Crime Hot Spot?
  16. How often is the Crime Hot Spots update?
  17. My Neighborhood is not listed, how can I get it added?
  18. How do I print the map with a report of the Crime Activity?
  19. How do I display (toggle) a the Imagery?
  20. I clicked on search, entered a selection , or attempted to zoom in/out and nothing happened, why?
  21. The Print Map and Report button resulted in a blank page how do I fix this?
  22. How do I provide feedback for this application?
  23. How do I report errors or application bugs?
 

How do I access mapAsheville Crime Mapper?

The are several ways to access mapAsheville. 
  • Using the main website.
  • or Using the Crime Mapper  web page.

    • What are the system requirements for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
    System
    mapAsheville Crime Mapper requires a PC with an internet connection and a web browser.
    System Settings
    It is preferred but not required that your screen size is set greater than 800 x 600.
    It is preferred but not required that your connection speed is something faster than dial-up.
    Browser Requirements
    The web browser must be current.  Examples Internet explorer 5.5 or greater, Netscape 6.0 or greater, and any version of Firefox.
    You must have a PDF reader plug-in such as Adobe® Reader® which is available for free at http://www.adobe.com/ . (Note: preferred Adobe® Reader® version is 7.0 or greater )
    JavaScript must be enabled or allowed for this site. (http://gis.ashevillenc.gov/ ). Note: See your browsers help to do this.
    Pop-up’s must be enabled or allowed for this site (http://gis.ashevillenc.gov/). Note: See your browsers help to do this.

    What Determines if a Crime Activity is included in this application?
    The data and information this application provides is to be used only as a guide for Crime with in the City of Asheville and the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office (BCSO).
    The time period for Crime data included in this application is for the past year only!
    Crime data includes the following:
    • Homicide: The willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.
    • Rape: The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.
    • Robbery: The taking or attempting to take anything of value by force or threat.
    • Aggravated Assault: The unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe bodily harm.
    • Burglary: The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
    • Larceny: The unlawful taking or stealing of property without the use of force, violence, or fraud.
    • Motor Vehicle Theft: The unlawful taking or stealing of a motor vehicle, including attempts.
    • Vandalism: The malicious destruction, injury, disfigurement or defacement of real or personal property.
    • Drugs: State and/or local offenses relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs including opium or cocaine and their derivatives, marijuana, synthetic narcotics, and dangerous nonnarcotic drugs such as barbiturates.

    How do I get support for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?

    The best source of support is the mapAsheville Crime Mapper help pages or this Frequently asked questions (FAQS) page. 
    Limited technical support for public users and full technical support support for City of Asheville staff users is provided by email @ helpdesk@ashevillenc.gov to users of mapAsheville
    Please email WebGIS@ashevillenc.gov for other mapAsheville inquires.

    Are there any tutorials for mapAsheville Crime Mapper?
    Yes. There are several places with tutorials to get you started using mapAsheville Crime Mapper.
    1. The Tutorials page.
    2. This page - Frequently asked questions (FAQ'S).

    How do I Find Crime Activity in my Neighborhood?

    1. Find the Search by... Section
    2. Find the tab named Neighborhood and single-click it.
    3. Using the Select by Neighborhood.


    4. Click on a Neighborhood.


    5. The Map will zoom to the Neighborhood.


    6. The Crime Information  Section will list the crime activity which is within a distance of the buffer value of the selected neighborhood .

     

    How do I Find Crime Activity close to my  property?
    1. Find the Search by... Section
    2. Find the tab named Property and single-click it.
    3. Find the section with the Title; Property.


    4. Click on the option PIN or click on the option Owner.

    5. Start Typing the Pin Number, as you type the 4th number you will start see possible matches.
    6. Click on the correct PIN or Owner from the list.
    7. The map will zoom to the parcel based on the PIN or Owner name selected.

    8. The Crime Information Section will list the crime activity which is within a distance of the buffer value of the selected property
       

    How do I Find Crime Activity close to my Address?

    1. Find the Search by... Section
    2. Find the tab named Property and single-click it.
    3. Find the section with the Title; Searches.


    4. Click on the search type Address or Street

    5. Start Typing the address, as you type the 5th letter of the address you will start see possible matches.
    6. Click on the correct address from the list.
    7. The map will zoom to the address based on the address selected.

    8. The Crime Information  Section will list the crime activity which is within a distance of the buffer value of the selected address.

    How do I Find Crime Activity close to my Street?

    1. Find the Search by... Section
    2. Find the tab named Property and single-click it.
    3. Find the section with the Title; Searches.


    4. Choose the search type Address or Street

    5. Start Typing the street name, as you type the 5th letter of the street you will start see possible matches.
    6. Click on the correct street from the list.
    7. The map will zoom to the street based on the street name selected.

    8. The Crime Information  Section will list the crime activity which is within a distance of the buffer value of the selected address .

    What do the different Crime Offenses represent?

    How often is the Crime data updated?

    The Crime Data is updated from the Criminal Justice Information System every night, and represents all of the defined crime from this section over the past year starting from the previous day.

    How do I compare crime for different locations?
    Currently the application dose not do this natively.
    However, by using the existing crimeMapper functionality, this can be done.
    1. Determine the areas to be compared using one of the search tools.
    2. The Crime Information  Section will list the crime activity which is within a distance of the buffer value of the search tool employed.

    3. Single-Click the Excel button to download or view an Excel spread sheet of the crime data.
    4. Repeat the process for each area in the comparison.
    5. Then view the saved spread sheets as desired.

    What is the time period for Crime Data?
    The Crime Data is updated from the Criminal Justice Information System every night, and represents all of the defined crime from this section over the past year starting from the previous day.

    What is a Crime Hot Spot?
    A crime hot spot illustrates areas of especially high concentrations/occurrences of a crime.  Small geographic areas which have an unusually high concentration of a crime offense type become a "hot spot".  Typically Hot Spots depict the concentrations of events in Cold (low) to Hot (High) rendering schemes; as is the case with the crimeMapper.  The rendering scheme used by the crimeMapper:



    displays areas of low concentrations of a crime offense type in blues and higher concentrations in orange/reds.

    All hot spots in the crimeMapper are generated once a week, Sunday evenings and include all crime defined in this section over the past year (from the day created).

    Note:
    Crime against persons includes the following Crimes: Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault.
    Crime against property includes the following Crimes: Burglary, Larceny, Larceny of Moter Vehicle.

    How Do I view a Crime Hot Spot?
    1. Find the   section named Crime Hot Spots.

    2. Use the pull down to select a a hot spot to display.
    3. Once the Hot Spot is selected...
    4. The map will re-draw and display the hot spot and the hot spot legend.  (Note the legend can be closed by clicking on the X in the right corner of the legend)
    5. To turn the Hot Spot off choose "None" from the pull down.
     
    How often is the Crime Hot Spots updated?
    All hot spots in the crimeMapper are generated once a week, Sunday evenings and include all crime defined in this section over the past year (from the day created).

    My Neighborhood is not listed, how can I get it added?
    Coming soon!

    How do I print the map with a report of the Crime Activity?
    1. Find the section with the Title; Get a Printable Report.


    2. Single-Click the go Button.
    3. A PDF will generated with a map and report.
    Note: The map may not be exactly what you see in web browser.
     
    How do I display (toggle) the Imagery Layer?
    To turn on or display the Zoning Layer click the button
    To turn on or display the Zoning Layer click the button (this is off when mapAsheville crimeMapper starts)

    I clicked on search, entered a selection , or attempted to zoom in/out and nothing happened, why?
    It is possible that your browser dose not support the methods used by mapAsheville crimeMapper.  Please update your browser and try again.  If the problem persists please contact the our help desk by email at email helpdesk@ashevillenc.gov ,

    How do I report errors or application bugs?
    Please email helpdesk@ashevillenc.gov to report any errors or bugs with the mapAsheville application.

    The Print Map button resulted in a blank page how do I fix this?
    Update your PDF reader.  The problem seems to occur with Adobe® Reader® 5.0 and some web browsers.  Got to http://www.adobe.com/ download and install Adobe® Reader® 7.0 or  8.0 to resolve this issue.  If the problem continues to happen after installing Adobe® Reader®  7.0 or  8.0 please email helpdesk@ashevillenc.gov  and let us know your web browser version and operating system so we can try and find a solution.