Open City has launched a new app called CAPSure that is designed to bring together public information into one easy to use app for mobile device or computer. It directs Chicagoans to their next local community policing meeting.
Whether you are new to Chicago, or a long-time resident, you want to know about police activities in and around your house. In Chicago, there are regular meetings between police liaisons and each and every geographic community in the city.
They’re called CAPS Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy meetings, and they’ve been going on for close to two decades. The develpers at Open City wanted to find an easy and reliable way for people to know about their local CAPS meetings. They are part of an on-going Open Gov effort where computer programmers, or hackers, meet and strategize with community representatives and city officials.
At the recent Safer Communities Google Hackathon, a team at Open City launched their app to help solve that problem: CAPSure.
CAPSure is a simple website that helps you find out when and where your next CAPS meeting is.
Simply enter your address to find your next meeting and save it away in your calendar. It also provides driving/walking/transit directions, event contact info, and a place to leave public comments.
The data comes from the Chicago Police Department ClearPath API, launched in May 2013. This is one of the ways that data that should be public, is actually getting into the hands of the public. And, like all Open City apps, the code for CAPSure is open source and free for anyone to take and reuse. If you notice any bugs, report it on our issue tracker.
Please email the developers with questions and suggestions at info@opencityapps.org.
via Find your next community policing meeting. Then, go to it. – biverson@gmail.com – Gmail.
