Mapping Unsolved Murders with Fusion Tables

The Vancouver Sun has published an Unsolved Homicides map for the city. The map shows the locations of all 298 unsolved homicides in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley from 2002 to 2013. You can filter the unsolved homicides on the map by drug related and non-drug related homicides. You can also click on any of the map markers to learn more details about the individual unsolved case.

The map itself was created with the Google Maps API and Google Fusion Tables. In particular it was made using Derek Eder's popular Searchable Map Template. Derek's Searchable Map Template is a free, open source tool that helps you create a searchable, filterable Google Map from a Fusion Table.

The template can create a Google Map pulling in data from any Fusion Table. It includes a number of features, including, an address search (with variable radius), geolocation (automatically center the map on the user's location), results count (using the Google's Fusion Tables API) and the ability to easily add additional search filters (checkboxes, sliders, etc).


Derek Eder's website includes a number of example maps created with the template. These include Derek's own maps, mainly centered on Chicago and lots of maps created by others with the template.

Jack Dougherty has created another Fusion Tables mapping library based on the Searchable Map Template. His FusionTable-Map-2-Layers template adds the option to include at least two selectable layers (points and polygons) to your map and can display results in a sortable list.