I'm the founder of SpotCrime, the nation's largest independent crime mapping platform. Since 2007, I've been on a mission to make public safety data truly public — accessible, transparent, and useful for every community.
SpotCrime aggregates crime data from over 1,000 police agencies across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, delivering hundreds of millions of neighborhood crime alerts annually. We believe that when communities have access to timely, accurate crime information, they're safer.
Before SpotCrime, I built a career in direct-response marketing and product invention — creating patented consumer products and marketing them through infomercials and TV. The idea for SpotCrime came from a very local problem: copper downspouts were disappearing from homes in my Baltimore neighborhood. I figured if people could see where crimes were happening on a map, they could take action. That simple idea became a company — and a cause.
A patented collapsible trunk organizer designed to keep groceries and cargo secure during transport. Marketed nationally through direct-response TV.
U.S. Patent HolderThe nation's largest independent crime mapping and alert platform. Aggregates data from 1,000+ agencies and delivers 300M+ alerts per year.
Founded 2007Colorful, wax-coated craft sticks for kids — a hit direct-response product marketed through national TV campaigns.
As Seen on TVThe SpotCrime Open Crime Standard — a published framework for standardizing how police agencies report and share crime data publicly.
Published 2014SpotCrime / ReportSee, Inc.
2007 — Present · Baltimore, MD
Brand New Direct
Previously · Baltimore, MD
Direct-response marketing and product development company. Created, patented, and marketed consumer products — including the Trunkanizer and Bendaroos — through infomercial and direct marketing channels reaching national audiences.
I'm a vocal advocate for open, equal, and fair access to public crime data. Police departments generate data that belongs to the public — and I believe that data should be freely available without restrictions.
SpotCrime has pushed for police agencies to adopt standardized, open formats for publishing crime data. In 2014, we published the SpotCrime Open Crime Standard (SOCS) to give departments a framework for transparent reporting.
"If you shorten the feedback loop between the moment a crime occurs and the point you become aware of it, you make communities safer."
— Colin Drane, Forbes"Being able to look at data and not being able to write it down is not transparency."
— Colin Drane, Technical.lyThe patented trunk organizer — as seen on TV
Interview on crime data, democracy & transparency
Challenges of wrangling crime data at scale
Philosophy (Epistemology) & Economics
1988 — 1992