Review: Crime Probability Maps of San Francisco
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 31, 2012
Michael Gard's Stay Safe Maps will be a great resource to me as I travel in the US. I am glad that San Francisco was picked for this roll-out edition, because I lived in the City for many years. I can confirm that there are some areas of SF that are risky to walk in, and no native would venture there sightseeing on foot. Gard writes that most areas in SF are relatively safe. In the risky areas, there is a statistically higher probability of crime than in the larger safer areas. That does not mean that the safer areas are crime free. For example, I was robbed at gunpoint in Pacific Heights one night, an area of multi-million dollar mansions and upscale apartments. The key to the maps is that the chance of danger is higher in the marked areas, especially at night.The Stay Safe Map of SF has 4 characteristics that will be true for all Maps: they assume no prior local knowledge, they can be understood at one glance, the displays are in color or black and white according to the specs of the e-reader, and information is quickly accessable on any Kindle or compatible device. I am looking at Map 1 of SF now on my iPhone. It is in color showing the entire city with five partially overlapping boxes marking off areas of SF labeled 2 - 7. On the next page, Map 2 shows the Embarcadero, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Areas of high probablility of crime are designated with cross-hatching. Now, these high risk locations may be places you want to go to visit in SF if you like strip clubs, great restaurants, and ethnic attractions. Just Stay Safe!Map 8 Shows boxes 9 - 11 marking off broader areas of SF including the outskirts of the City that are not visited as frequently by sightseers. Maps of these areas will be most helpful when you just want to drive around the City and check out the environment from your car.Gard includes a section after the Maps advising the reader how to lower the risk of danger when visiting the higher crime areas on foot or in a car. He also includes a Disclaimer, that I interpret as a declaration that he is not making social value judgments of certain areas of the City. He is using available reliable and valid public data to show high frequency crime rates in various locations and interpreting the data as predictive. For example, my father had a printing company in the Tenderloin district north of Market Street in the 1960s. It is a large square block area cross-hatched on one of the Maps. I worked for my father and walked the mean streets from the parking garage to the shop without a single incident (except being accosted by panhandlers who would let off a string of invective if I stiffed them). Of course, I went there in daylight hours only, reducing the probability of being a victim of crime.This is a great resource for travelers. I have a Kindle 2 that displays black and white Maps, and it is better than the iPhone in spite of lack of color because of the size of the screen. Hopefully, cities in other countries will be mapped for safety by Michael Gard. We visited San Juan, Puerto Rico recently staying in the historic city area frequented by tourists. There were no problems, but I am sure there are high risk areas outside of the town center. That information would be very helpful if we want to explore areas without hiring a local guide.