Not so many years ago, police watched crime trends by sticking colored pins into maps.

In the digital age, mapping software gives law enforcement faster and more sophisticated ways to catch and analyze crime trends. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, we civilians too can search the digital-age versions of pin maps.

At The Star, we keep a map updated with all the homicides in the county going back to 1996.

http://crime.venturacountystar.com/http://crime.venturacountystar.com/

The Oxnard Police Department has an excellent crime map. It is searchable by location and crime.

http://www.oxnardpd.org/crimedata/

For comparison, here's the Los Angeles Police Department's crime map:

http://www.lapdcrimemaps.org/