Online Crime Reporting
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| By the way, this photo isn't Kris |
Idaho Falls resident Kris Frasure received good news recently when we caught the culprits that broke his large double pane window at his house two weeks ago. It’s no surprise police made an arrest. We're good at that. The real surprise for Kris was that we solved a crime he reported online.
“I wasn’t exactly sure what (the online reporting sytem) was,” Kris said. “But, I was pleasantly surprised when officers solved my crime.”
After working out a few bugs, we implemented online crime reporting (Coplogic for those that really care) at the start of the new year. It was done to save time in the way we handle minor crimes with no suspects. The benefits are that residents don’t have the hassle of waiting for an officer to respond and the officer’s time is freed to work on other things.
Ultimately, it gives the taxpayers’ more bang for their buck.
For the six months since implementation, the department has seen a savings of about $8,839 with 121 reports taken (about a 44% return on investment). As more people become aware, these numbers should grow. Other departments told me this system for online reporting grew from 11% to 31% of their cases. I think our numbers will grow further as the word gets out.
Online reporting isn’t for everyone. If you call us, we’ll give you the option - if it’s appropriate. It definitely isn’t appropriate for crimes happening right now and crimes where you have suspects or physical evidence, but for minor crimes with no suspects (between 25%-50% of our call load), online reporting may be a good option. Don't worry, the computer (and our Records personnel) won't let you report a crime online if it shouldn't be reported online.
Before I decided to move forward on this project, I did a quick reality check with my wife. “Would you rather file a report online or have personal contact with a real police officer?” She looked at me thoughtfully and smiled. “I think I’d prefer online.”