Arizona State University researchers have organized data on violent crimes across the state into one convenient online dashboard. This new resource, called the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System Dashboard, includes statistics related to homicides, suicides and more.
Charles Katz is a professor at the ASU Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. He says the tool provides an easier way for people to find information on violent deaths and identify trends in the data.
“People could use the information that was contained in the reports, whether it be focused on their jurisdiction or the state or whatnot. But it just wasn't as democratized as we would have liked to have seen it, where a large number of people can use it from any background, have access to the data," he said.
The dashboard includes data from 2015 to 2022 and it includes homicides, suicides and more. It’s affiliated with the National Violent Death Reporting System, a network linked to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The goals of the dashboard are really to allow immediate access to individuals from across the state, anybody in the state to be able to access information related to homicides, suicide within their community so that they can use that information to assist in prevention and intervention efforts," he said.
Katz says one trend he observed was that the number of homicides related to domestic violence increased substantially during the coronavirus pandemic.
He says members of the media, community organizers and law enforcement agencies could benefit from the compiled data.
