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Newington unveils public crime-and-safety portal with interactive maps, redacted data
Summary
Town data analyst Monique Mashad demonstrated a new desktop-optimized crime-and-safety portal that publishes calls-for-service, crashes and traffic-stop data with built-in redactions; councilors praised the transparency and asked about privacy safeguards and integrations.
Monique Mashad demonstrated Newington’s new crime-and-safety portal at the June 23 Town Council meeting, saying the desktop‑optimized dashboard went live a few weeks ago and pulls nightly data from police dispatch, the CT crash data repository and the CT traffic‑stop data repository.
The portal shows an interactive map, live call counters and downloadable Excel exports, Mashad said, and includes separate pages for calls for service, motor-vehicle crashes, traffic stops and a speed‑limit lookup. "Calls-for-service and traffic stops are pulled nightly straight from our dispatch system," she said, adding that crashes appear after the official report is processed, typically one to two months later.
Councilors asked how the portal protects victims and other sensitive information. Mashad said all private and sensitive call types and identifying details have been redacted, and that certain sensitive call categories (for example, sexual‑assault calls) are excluded from the public pages. She also described an internal, authenticated version of the same platform for police workflows that includes nonpublic details used for day‑to‑day operations.
Mayor and council members praised the portal as a transparency tool and a practical aide for staff. One councilor said it will allow officials to answer resident complaints — for example about speeding or crash clusters — by drilling into the data before launching a formal traffic analysis. Town Manager Jonathan said the portal helps staff and residents "have that kind of two‑way conversation" about localized problems.
Mashad noted the site is designed for desktop viewing because of the data volume and recommended users view it at 100% browser zoom. She encouraged residents to explore the portal and said the police department approved the redaction approach. The portal currently contains data from Jan. 1, 2023 to present, and the team said the date range can change based on user feedback.
The council did not take a formal vote on the portal; the presentation closed after a 20‑minute Q&A. Councilors asked staff to consider future integrations (for example, with red‑light camera programs) and to confirm retention and update policies for long‑term public access. The portal is publicly accessible from the town’s website.
