BOZEMAN — On Wednesday, the Bozeman Police Department unveiled a new crime dashboard.
“Honestly, I think it’s 50/50. I’m not sure about it,” said Alison Keehn, who has lived in Bozeman for 30 years.
MTN asked Keehn if she’s noticed an increase in crime since moving to Bozeman.
“From 1995 to now, yes, a considerable amount more,” said Keehn.
MTN’s Esha Walia then showed Keehn the Bozeman Police Department’s new crime dashboard. It shows – by intersection – where and how many crimes were committed in the Bozeman area, dating back to January of 2024.
“I mean, I’m shocked. There should be, like, four dots,” said Keehn, referencing the circles on the dashboard that contain the number of crimes near a specified intersection.
MTN asked Bozeman Police Chief Jim Veltkamp about safety, given the number of crimes shown on the dashboard.
“Bozeman is still a very safe city,” said Chief Veltkamp. “As the population increases, the number of crimes are also going up, but it’s the ratio between those two that has not gone up as fast as the population has.”
Bozeman residents react to new police crime dashboard - see what they think about this transparency tool
Chief Veltkamp then gave a walk-through on how to use the dashboard, showing how each crime is classified under four categories: crimes against people, property, society, and others. As Chief Veltkamp said, in order to see what crimes were committed, people can press on a circle at a specified intersection.
The dashboard, which took about eight months to develop, updates daily.
As to why the Bozeman police decided to create the dashboard…
“One of the principles of policing is that police need the community and the community needs the police, so we need to be partners. And this is a tool towards doing that,” said Chief Veltkamp.
For Bozeman residents like Keehn, the initial reaction to the dashboard is two-fold.
“We just don’t know how people use this information,” said Keehn. “But, I think that the point of it is brilliant: to help people, especially families with kids.”
The crime dashboard is accessible via the website, by phone, or desktop. For more information, visit this link.
