Guide · Agent skill
How to use the CrimeStats agent skill: setup, prompts and tips
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
CrimeStats is an agent skill, a set of instructions and scripts that a Claude-based agent loads when your request matches its job. Once installed, it looks up US city crime statistics from public sources such as FBI data, city police portals and crime-rate websites, then reports the results with sources attached. This guide explains what the skill does, how to install it, how to phrase requests so it triggers, and what to watch for with the data.
CrimeStatsdanielmiessler/LifeOS · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Download the CrimeStats ZIP from this page.
- 2Install the skill. Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or a project's .claude/skills/ folder, or upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
- 3Create Config.md. Fill in your default city, state, county, ZIP and local police portal URL in the CrimeStats Config.md path described in the setup section.
- 4Run the proof command. Follow Setup.md to confirm the skill can reach its data sources and write to the data directory.
- 5Ask a crime question. Request a snapshot, trend, incident list or comparison in plain language.
- 6Check sources. Review the source and data year attached to each figure before drawing conclusions.
What the CrimeStats skill makes the agent do
The skill pulls US city crime statistics and turns them into a summary. Its outputs include rates per 100,000 residents for total, property, violent, burglary, robbery and vehicle theft crime, year-over-year changes, recent reported incidents, and comparisons between cities. It defaults to a home city you configure, so "how safe is my city?" needs no city name.
The skill is designed to report caveats along with numbers. It names the source and data year for each figure, notes when sources disagree, and warns that FBI figures lag by months. It also saves each pull as a dated JSON file so later runs can compare against earlier ones.
- Rate snapshots for one city, with national comparison and year-over-year change
- Multi-year trend analysis against neighboring cities, the state and the nation
- Lists of recent reported incidents for a city and time range
- Side-by-side comparisons of several cities with the same sources
Install the CrimeStats skill from the download ZIP
Download the CrimeStats ZIP from this page. You then have two ways to add it, depending on how you use your agent.
For Claude Code, unzip the download into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available in all projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project. For the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.
- Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/ (available everywhere)
- Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project folder (available only in that project)
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill
Complete the one-time setup
The skill needs a configuration file that you fill in. Its path is <configRoot>/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/CrimeStats/Config.md, where configRoot is $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR if that variable is set, otherwise ~/.claude. In Config.md you enter your default city, state, county, ZIP and your local police portal URL. The skill's Setup.md file explains how to find the police portal type.
The skill also creates a data folder for saved results. Every intent runs mkdir -p before its first write, so you do not need to make the folder yourself, but your agent needs shell access to run that command. An FBI API key is optional and is described in Setup.md.
- Required: Config.md with default city, state, county, ZIP and police portal URL
- Optional: FBI API key (see Setup.md)
- Shell access so the skill can create its data directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/LIFEOS/MEMORY/DATA/CrimeStatsTrigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need a special command. Ask in plain language and the agent matches your request to one of four intents. Quick snapshots answer rate questions, trend analysis handles questions about whether crime is rising, incident reports cover recent events, and comparisons handle questions about two or more cities.
Name the city and state when you mean a city other than your default, because many US cities share names across states. If you do not name a city, the skill uses the default in Config.md. If Config.md is missing or unset, the skill asks which city to use rather than guessing.
- Quick snapshot: "What are the crime stats for my city?" or "How safe is Springfield, IL?"
- Trend: "Is violent crime going up here?"
- Incidents: "What crimes were reported in my city this week?"
- Comparison: "How does my city compare to the neighboring one for crime?"
Read the results with their caveats
Check the source and data year on every figure before you rely on it. Police portals publish different offense lists than FBI UCR, so their totals are not directly comparable. Some sites, such as AreaVibes, NeighborhoodScout and CrimeGrade, use different baselines, and rates can differ by 10 to 40 percent between them.
For small cities, a few incidents can change a per-100K rate noticeably, so look at the absolute numbers the skill reports alongside the rate. Incident feeds such as SpotCrime are partial, so a missing incident does not mean no crime occurred.
- Confirm the city and state match what you meant
- Compare only figures from the same source
- Use absolute counts for cities under about 100,000 residents
- Treat incident feeds as partial
What people use it for
- Checking the crime rate and year-over-year trend for the city you live in
- Comparing your current city with one you are considering moving to
- Reviewing recent reported incidents in your neighborhood for the past week
- Comparing violent and property crime rates across several US cities for a research or journalism draft, with sources verified by you
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the CrimeStats agent skill?
Download the CrimeStats ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. In the Claude apps, upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills instead.
What does the CrimeStats skill need to run?
It needs Claude Code or a compatible agent with a home directory for data, a Config.md file where you enter your default city, state, county, ZIP and local police portal URL, and internet access to public crime data sites. Shell access is needed to create the data directory, and an FBI API key is optional.
Is the CrimeStats skill free?
The source material states that the skill is licensed under MIT. It does not list prices, so check the license file in the download for terms.
Does CrimeStats work for cities outside the United States?
No. The skill and its sources are focused on US cities, so results for cities elsewhere are not covered by its data sources.
Why do crime rates differ between websites?
Sites such as AreaVibes, NeighborhoodScout and CrimeGrade use different baselines, so rates can differ by 10 to 40 percent. The skill cites the source for each figure so you can see which baseline applies.
Can I use CrimeStats to look up people involved in crimes?
No. The skill is not for people investigations, and it is built never to record the names of people arrested, accused or involved in an incident. It reports figures, offenses, dates and block-level locations only.
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Our verdict
CrimeStats suits people who want sourced, caveated crime figures for their own city or one they are considering, and researchers or journalists who will verify the sources themselves. It is a poor choice for investigating individuals, for cities outside the US, or for safety-critical decisions about where to live or travel based on partial incident feeds.
Download the skill