Here’s what you need to know about Ottawa police’s redesigned crime map

The Ottawa Police Service has redesigned its interactive crime map to make it easier to access crime statistics in your area. (Ottawa Police Service)

The Ottawa Police Service has redesigned its interactive crime map to make it easier to access crime statistics in your area.

The Crime Map’s updates allow you to narrow down your search by using three filters: Type, neigbourhood and date, police said in an email to CTV News Ottawa Wednesday. It notes that some of the most important and noticeable changes are described in the welcome screen and the about section of the map itself.

Here’s a breakdown of the updates:

Functionalities:

• Simplified date range: The default date range used to be the last 7 days, with a toggle that needed to be turned off before you could do a custom date range. The map now automatically defaults to the previous day’s incidents.
• Automatic zoom: The map now automatically zooms to the selected ward, neighborhood, sector, or division based on your filter choices.
• Custom locations: You may now filter incidents to a custom location using the selection tool. This allows you to focus on areas of particular interest.
• Multi-offence filter: You can now select multiple offences to filter.

Messaging and communication:

• New and improved glossary: Definitions of the offences are now also available by hovering over the offence on the summary tab, as well as in the pop-up windows for each incident.
• Expanded about page: More information has been added to the about page, including answers to frequently asked questions from the community.

Accessibility and ease of use:

• Clearer map layers: The outlines for ward and neighbourhood layers are now more visible when turned on.
• Mobile accessibility: Prioritizing mobile accessibility is part of the police service’s vision of making the Community Safety Data Portal accessible to everyone.

“Each incident is displayed according to its most serious violation and pinpointed at the nearest intersection to its actual location,” reads the police website.

The data is updated at 7:30 a.m. daily, displaying crime incidents from the current year, 2025, to the previous day.

For historical analysis, the map includes statistics from 2018-2024.

So far this year, the city has seen five homicides, one attempted murder, 819 assaults, 289 thefts of motor vehicles and 85 thefts over $5,000.

More information is available here: Crime Map (Year-to-Date)