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Online Police Reports Coming: Manufacturer Donates Software

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Robin Fitzgerald, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Apr. 6--GULFPORT -- The E-Police are coming soon to a computer near you, courtesy of a computer software manufacturer's donation to the Gulfport Police Department.

An electronic reporting program on the department's Web site will allow residents to report non-emergency crimes and minor incidents without having to drive to the police station or wait for a police officer to arrive.

E-Police Department Inc., of San Ramon, Calif., has donated an $18,000 version of its software to help the city move forward technologically in recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The program will eliminate the cost of officers taking reports when there is no suspect while documenting incidents and collecting data, said Chief Alan Weatherford. Some of the data also can be used to identify areas of concern to help combat crime, he added.

"This will be another tool to assist our citizens in filing reports from their home or place of business," Weatherford said. "I want to emphasize that officers will still respond to calls for service."

The online reporting form will be available on the agency's Web site, www.gulfportpolice.net, in a couple of weeks.

The technology decreases the "paper pushing" workload of officers by creating instant reports residents can download for their own use; it also routes copies to the appropriate police divisions and files.

Deputy Chief Alfred Sexton explained the benefits to residents:

Suppose a property crime has been committed but there's no known suspect, such as wheel covers stolen off your car.

"The citizen can file a report online and download a copy for their insurance company," Sexton said. "It generates a temporary case-file number before a permanent number is assigned during follow-up."

"Citizens can take care of that first step without having to wait or having to leave their home or business."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)

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