Here is the key to what these maps track:

When you visit the site, you can mouse over each icon to learn more about the definition – like who knew there was a difference between theft, burglary and robbery?

Anyway, looking at the NC maps, it seems different cities can claim expertise for different types of crime.

Raleigh, for instance, is very skilled in assault and theft:

Durham, on the other hand, is all about shootings. I don’t actually believe this map, as those of us who love Durham know that the crime rate is maybe just a li’l bit high. I surmise that they only have time to track the most grievous crimes (shootings) and all the others are just too overwhelming to count:

And lets not forget Charlotte. Their strength is burglaries – it is the banking capital after all. Doesn’t this map make burglaries look awesome? All those little guys look like they’re having a blast!

First, just a couple miles away from our office but still well inside the city limits, Raleigh had 3 days of explosions of military munitions. Anyone living or working close to the Raleigh scrap metal recycling plant dealt with the feeling of being in a war zone as 18 anti-tank projectiles and three 90-millimeter rifle rounds had to be intentionally exploded at the plant to keep them from accidentally exploding in someone’s face. The ammo was dropped off at the plant early in the week and the workers who accepted it assumed it was spent ammunition. Two brothers have since been detained in the case that is being investigated or worked on by The Raleigh Police Department, Raleigh city officials, The Sanford Police Dept Special Enforcement Unit, Fort Bragg munitions experts, the FBI, and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (wow). See WRAL coverage.

The second thing that happened was at a property that’s about a mile away from the office that’s owned by a Designbox friend. He’s renovating and had to call the police because a worker who tore the old flooring out found a big pile of old bones underneath! He called to let us know what was going on, and the office practically emptied as we all jumped in the car to see a real CSI moment. When we arrived, there were 4 police there analyzing the bones. We didn’t see anything incredibly scientific going on…the whole scene would have been edited out of any worthwhile crime drama. Eventually, it was determined that the bones were from a cow or deer or something of that size, and were definitely not human. But I still like to think it is quite mysterious that these bones were under the house.

stay tuned for the next drama to unfold…

Matt, a friend and colleague in the Designbox space, ran into some bad Luck in the Raleigh Combat Zone (click here for earlier post defining the Combat Zone) yesterday. He left his beloved Nokia out on the patio for a second (maybe two), and it was promptly stolen! These days, a stolen mobile can be quite devastating, as all your important numbers, addresses, etc are bound to be there, and the last sync was, well, long enough ago so it is no longer helpful.

The phone robber undoubtedly knew this and, a few hours later, called Matt – from Matt’s own phone. He said he was holding it for ransom, and named the place for the exchange. Matt, deciding that it was a safe enough and public place to go without backup, set out to save his contact list. When he got there, the phone robber expressed his terms. “You buy me a Wendy’s triple cheeseburger, and I’ll give you back your phone.” Fortunately, Matt had come prepared with a $5 bill in his pocket. He bought the burger, got his phone back, and everyone was happy.

and check out this site by Ian Jenkins for in-depth coverage of the Wendy’s Baconator.

Somebody set the dumpster on fire. What’s up with that?
Despite the safety issues of something being on fire right outside the building, we found the overall spectacle rather amusing. And as designers, we found the post-fire makeover to be much improved. Britt and Joey spent some time capturing it in a photo, which I will title “Newfound Beauty of a Dumpster.”

I guess, to reference Kelly’s earlier entry “Fun Facts about Raleigh” which maps out different danger areas that surround the office (as labeled by a CCBI officer), we can now call our back parking lot a “Hot Spot.”

I would like to begin by saying I have never really felt unsafe in downtown Raleigh. Recently, I had my 94 Firebird (awww yeah!) broken into right outside my place of work. To set the scene let me tell you what was in my car: a pair of broken flip flops, maps, one cd, a jug of water in case my radiator gets thirsty, a small notebook to record my mileage when I fill up cause the gas tank meter is a little off, and a pen. In summary, nothing of value. Between the hours 5 and 7 pm someone smashed my passenger window in an attempt to steal my Clarion stereo- wait, what do you mean you’ve never heard of that brand??? They destroyed my stereo, but dropped it in the adjacent parking lot. So they got nothing and I got I broken window and a bum stereo. The police were called and responded very quickly and then City/County Bureau of Identification (CCBI) came to take prints off the Bird. This is when a learned a few fun facts.

1. More and more crimes are being linked through palm prints these days than fingerprints. CCBI took fingerprints, but also palm prints. They are using a new product called SPEX that they love.

2. My workplace is located smack in the middle of a hot spot. (I was shocked too. Maybe I should feel unsafe in downtown Raleigh.) I took the liberty of mapping the areas of danger that were very kindly pointed out to me. The northwest is a homicide area. Scary. ‘Undesirables’ populate the northeast. Scary? No clarification was provided on this point. There are not ONE, but TWO combat zones. One to the west and one to the south. These are areas of ongoing turmoil including drugs and prostitution. I’ve been to Ess Lounge once and I would agree that is a combat zone.

3. Do not leave your social security card and birth certificate in your car because it will be stolen if someone breaks into your car. This is something that I already knew, but since it happened to someone the same night my car was broken into I thought it was worth mentioning.