b'MapA(traditionalpolicemeas-urement)andMapC(harm-focused measurement) tell two very different stories about where resources should be deployed and what kind of resour-ces are needed in those areas. Map A,showingsocialdisorderhotspots drivenbyvolume,maysuggestthe needforcommunityengagement teams, special constables or partner-ships with local agencies. In contrast, MapCidentifieshigh-harmareas, A NOTE ON LEGITIMACY harm are vastly different experiences,whichwouldlikelyrequireamore yetbothcountasjustonecrimerobustpolicepresence,potentially Ourdataisonlyasreliableasthestatistic.Thisfailstoemphasizewith specialized teams like CAP units communitys trust in law enforcementtheir differences in severity and theorenhancedsurveillance.Thiscom-toreporttheirexperiences.Whenresources needed for response. Whileparison underscores the importance of thecommunityhasconfidenceinthismeasureprovidesanarrativedistinguishing between event volume lawenforcement,individualsareabout crime occurrence, it is unhelpfulandactualharmwhendetermining more likely to report crimes, leadingforunderstandinghowserioustheresource allocation.to more comprehensive and reliablecrimes are. WHAT IS A HARM SCORE?data (Mazerolle, 2014; Bradford, 2012; Tyler,1990).Conversely,whentrustHarm Relevance to Deployment A harm score is a weight assigned to a islacking,manycrimes,particularlyPolice agencies use crime data to makecrime based on its severity, interpreted those involving vulnerable or margin- as the average days spent in jail for alized groups, go unreported, creatingdecisions about resource allocation. Ifcommittingthatcrime(Sherman, a significant gap in official crime datacrime is measured solely by volume, and distorting the true picture of publicresources might be disproportionately safety. This dark figure of unreporteddirected toward high-volume, low-se-crime,ascoinedbySkogan(1977),verity crimes, leaving more severe or canmisinformresourceallocationharmful crimes under-addressed. Not and policy decisions. Trust also affectseverything that occurs within a crim-the communitys perception of publicinal environment should be assessed safetywhen people believe crimeunder the same lens because they do data better reflects reality, it strength- not pose the same level of threat or enspolicelegitimacy.Thisisanrequire the same resources.inherent limitation of police data andMapAdisplaysthetotalcount anyanalysisbasedonit. Therefore,ofCAD(computer-aideddispatch) when we discuss the harm index, weevents across the city, including calls will refer to it as the police-reportedfor service, criminal and non-criminal crime severity index (PRCSI). incidents.Whileithighlightsareas A NEW MEASUREMENT: HARMwithahighvolumeofincidents,it Harm-focused policing is rooted in thedoesntprovidemuchinsightinto ideathatnotallcrimeshaveequalthe actual nature or severity of these impactsonvictimsorcommunities.events.MapBrepresentsthesame The most significant issue with currentarea,butitfocusesoneventswith policing measurements is that everyUCRcodesthatcarryaharmscore. incident is treated equallycountedThismapreflectsthecountofinci-asasingleoccurrenceregardlessofdents deemed harmful, weighted by its context or severity. Both minor andseverity, offering a different perspec-serious crimes are treated equally intive. Map C also covers the same area, the data, which doesnt reflect theirbut it specifically shows harm levels differences in severity or the resour- associated with each incident, using ces needed to respond. For instance,a weighted harm score to provide an havingacreditcardstolenversusevenmorefocusedviewonthreat being a victim of assault with bodilylevels. This maps the weight of harm. The Official Publication of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police19'