Until a few months ago, the Los Gatos crime map in use was provided by CrimeReports.com. That site morphed into CityProtect.com, which covers most of Santa Clara County, but not the town of Los Gatos or city of Monte Sereno. What was nice about City Protect is that it included all of San Jose, Campbell, and Saratoga – among other places. So the activity that I wanted to track did not start nor stop at the city limits. Nor do break ins.
New Los Gatos crime map
This morning I phoned the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department (non emergency line) to ask what site we are now using since the Los Gatos and Monte Sereno burglaries, assaults, etc. are no longer showing up on CityProtect. I was told that we are now utilizing a new site, LGPD.CrimeGraphics.com.
At the risk of sounding ungrateful for this tech tool, I will state that it’s not a very good or useful site for most consumers. The major issue is that it will only suggest that the viewer to see 7 days at a time. Want to view 12 weeks of info? You may have to try the search 12 times, 7 days each. With CityProtect, the website’s visitor can see a crime map going back months in one glance by adjusting the filters.
To me, that is a lot more helpful. It’s not that the site won’t permit longer searches, but it seems to get hung up unless what is being sought is only one of the several options.
Missing data in the new Los Gatos crime map
Another issue is that the info is incomplete. I am aware of some incidents within a block of me that do not show up on this new site.
If you’re local, you may be aware that Los Gatos and Cambrian (as well as other locations) have been plagued recently with a gang of 4 burglars who’ve been breaking into homes when the residents are gone, and that they are quick and seem to be after cash and jewelry. It made the news (t.v. station linked above) but has been all over NextDoor and also the RingDoorbell forum. These guys appeared in several backyards but were unsuccessful at getting in, mostly because some of the homes were not as unoccupied as they might have seemed from the street. A few weeks ago we had a small swarm of police cars on my street for an event like that in which they got into 2 backyards but didn’t make it into the house. Those are not on the new Los Gatos crime map website.
Another house within a block of mine was broken into a couple of years ago: the power was cut first and the alarm didn’t go off. That one is not on this site either.
Los Gatos residents who are around the corner from a site where police cars have converged and not on social media sites may be oblivious to the uptick in crime across Los Gatos. It’s imperative that we have reliable and thorough information. I’d like to see it include attempted break ins as well.
It would also be useful to have the data be as interconnected as our communities. But with the current setup, if you want to see what is happening along the border with Saratoga, Campbell, or San Jose, you’ll have to check two sites. Wouldn’t it be better to have all of that info at a glance? It’s not on the ballot, but if it were, I’d cast my vote for getting Los Gatos back onto CityProtect.
Since right now the info is segmented, I would suggest that if you aren’t following the issue of the break ins by that gang of four, you get onto your local NextDoor group so you are informed.
