LAPD Crime Data Scraper

LAPD Crime Data Scraper

Scrape LAPD crime incident reports from the official public data portal, up to a million records per run. Every record includes the crime code, area name, date, location, and victim details. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The Los Angeles Police Department publishes incident data on its public portal, but browsing it page by page or downloading static snapshots is slow and manual. This Actor reads the live feed directly, lets you filter by LAPD area or crime code, and returns a clean dataset you can analyze immediately. No API key, no registration, no rate-limit headaches.

Who uses it	What they scrape LAPD Crime Data for
Crime analysts	Mapping incident hotspots across LAPD divisions for resource planning.
Journalists	Tracking crime trends in specific neighborhoods for investigative reporting.
Insurance underwriters	Assessing property risk by historical incident frequency in an area.
Academic researchers	Building longitudinal datasets of reported crime for criminology studies.
Real estate professionals	Evaluating neighborhood safety signals for client advisories.

What it does

This Actor collects LAPD crime incident reports from the official data portal and returns each one as a flat row with standardized fields.

• 📊 Bulk extraction: Pull up to one million records in a single run, far beyond what the web UI allows.
• 🎯 Area filter: Narrow results to one LAPD reporting area like Hollywood, Wilshire, or Central Bureau.
• 🔢 Crime code filter: Target specific offense types by their LAPD crime code for focused analysis.
• 📁 Multi-format export: Download your dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML with one click.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with LAPD Crime Data data

📍 Map neighborhood crime.

A crime analyst pulls the last 90 days of incidents for the Wilshire area to build a heatmap for a community policing meeting.

📰 Investigate a trend.

A journalist filters by a specific crime code across all areas to quantify a reported spike in vehicle thefts.

🏠 Assess property risk.

An insurance underwriter downloads incident data for a ZIP code to adjust premium models for a new policy.

🎓 Build a research dataset.

A graduate student collects five years of incident reports to study the correlation between lighting improvements and nighttime crime.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Live data	Reads directly from the LAPD public data feed, not a stale snapshot.
No API limits	No app registration, OAuth tokens, or per-minute rate caps to manage.
Fixed schema	Every record arrives with the same predictable fields, ready for analysis.
Scalable volume	Collect up to a million records per run for large-scale studies.

How it compares

No other Store actor targets LAPD Crime Data the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	LAPD Crime Data Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When LAPD Crime Data changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with optional area name and crime code filters, applied as records are read so only matching incidents reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.10
1,000 results	$21.00
10,000 results	$210.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the LAPD Crime Data Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to LAPD Crime Data through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/la-crime-data-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your area name or crime code filter is spelled correctly and matches a valid LAPD value. Try running without filters first to confirm the feed is returning data, then add filters one at a time.

The run stopped before reaching my maxItems.

The Actor stops when it has read all available records matching your filters. If fewer incidents exist than your maxItems setting, the run ends early with whatever was found.

Some records look incomplete.

The LAPD public feed may have missing fields for certain incidents. This is normal. The Actor returns whatever the source provides for each record.

My area name filter is not working.

LAPD area names are case-sensitive in some feeds. Try variations like 'Hollywood' versus 'HOLLYWOOD', or check the LAPD website for the exact official area name.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What data source does this Actor use?	It reads from the official LAPD public data portal, the same system that powers the department's public crime maps and open data releases.
Do I need an API key or LAPD account?	No. The Actor reads the public data feed directly. No registration, no API key, and no login are required.
How many records can I get in one run?	You can set the maximum up to one million records per run. The actual number depends on how many incidents match your filters.
What is an LAPD area name?	LAPD divides the city into reporting areas such as Hollywood, Wilshire, Central Bureau, and others. You can filter by any valid area name.
What is an LAPD crime code?	It is a numeric or alphanumeric code the department assigns to each offense type. You can filter by a specific code to isolate one category of crime.
Can I filter by date range?	The current input schema supports filtering by area name and crime code. Date range filtering is not a built-in input but you can post-process the dataset by the date field after download.
What export formats are supported?	You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform.
Is this Actor affiliated with the LAPD?	No. This is an independent tool that reads publicly available data. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with the Los Angeles Police Department or the City of Los Angeles.
How fresh is the data?	The Actor reads the live feed on each run, so you get the most current records available on the LAPD public portal at that moment.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs. You can set this Actor to collect new incident data daily, weekly, or on any cron schedule you need.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by City of Los Angeles. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.