The Wellesley Police Department has released an excellent new interactive crime and incident map using Google Maps technology that lets you see at a glance where evil is lurking in town, or at least where people are getting into trouble.

Icons on the map indicate where vandalism, drunk driving stops, thefts and other incidents have taken place. Click on the icons and you get more details on the incident. You can zoom in on neighborhoods and streets, and in some cases photos will be included.

The map follows the debut earlier this year of the Wellesley Police Department’s traffic accident map.

The maps are part of a broader effort in recent years by the Wellesley Police Department to be more transparent about what it does (including through the Wellesley PD Photo website) and to share information with the public that might increase awareness about possible crime hotspots.

One step the department has not taken is to put on the web its police log — you know, the collection of scary/silly police incidents that local newspapers summarize.

View Wellesley Police Department Crime and Incident Map 2011 in a larger map