The little diversion in the sidebar is a visualization of Toronto Police Service’s Calls-For-Service (C4S) data over time.

The data itself is almost certainly incomplete since the TPS outright states that some calls are not included if they’re of a sensitive nature, and it’s also important to note that not every call for service is valid (maybe a prank call, butt dial, etc.), but what’s there still provides an interesting insight as to what’s been happening recently on the streets of Toronto (The 416, The Six, 6, 6ix, etc.).

Each incident is plotted on the map as a black dot, at the location and at the time it was reported. As the incident/call ages it slowly turns red so a map full of red dots could indicate that many of the calls displayed are taking a very long time to resolve. Like most interactive maps you can zoom in or out, move around, and rotate if you’re using a multi-touch interface like a phone (not sure if this is possible otherwise).

Below the map are two date/time indicators showing the beginning of the available data window (i.e. the last time I reset the data feed), and the current point in time being displayed on the map. When the end of the available data has been reached, the second date/time will have a check mark after it.

The final part in the Widget is the incident list where the types and cumulative totals of incidents are recorded. I’m not sure if this needs any further explanation.

There’s other interesting information that can be extrapolated from the feed so I’ll probably end up fiddling with the widget at some point(s) but for now I’d only add a warning that occasionally the C4S data, which is maintained by the Toronto Police, is unavailable. Feel free to complain or to make suggestions but please be aware that some things are out of my hands.