Discussion on improvements

[hiddentao]

Now that the map is up and running here is how I think it can be improved:

• Data cleanup - Un-clean and inconsistent data is the biggest problem right now. The data needs to be given the once-over, mistakes corrected, locations pinpointed better, etc. if the dataset as it stands is going to be of value.
• User submissions - I'm not keen on people having to submit data into a Google spreadsheet. Ideally they'd be able to submit through a form on the map (which in turn would call the API server). We'd then review the submission (once a week by someone would do) and approve/reject it. There's potential here for semi-automatic approval by scraping the linked news article. In any case, this will need some enhancements to the API server to allow for submissions.
• Share-able map views - This is more for the map project, but I'd like it if the URL hash was reflective of the current filtered view on the map - thus people would be able to share a particular view by URL.

What do you think?

[mrmechko]

Do you think it would be possible to get exact gps coordinates of shootings?

[hiddentao]

The map locations as they currently are are actually extrapolated from the available info. E.g. If city is available we use that otherwise we go for state. We'd have to go back and look at each incident and work out the likely GPS co-ordinates ourselves.

On another note, the Guardian have a much better dataset and map on offer now anyway -> http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-map-us-police-killings