I think the FUD aspect is unfortunately just part of the kind of communication it facilitates. Neighborhood mailing lists, blogs, Facebook groups – they all en

I think the FUD aspect is unfortunately just part of the kind of communication it facilitates. Neighborhood mailing lists, blogs, Facebook groups – they all end up spreading information about crime in a way that makes the neighborhood feel less safe. If there's a solution to this, I think it would be social instead of technical. Also at a certain point as the neighborhood communication matures it gets better, IMHO – people need to learn how best to communicate with each other, and there's no other way to do that than practice.