PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office wants to install an online reporting system for misdemeanors that aims to save money and make things easier for both police officers and residents.
The commissioners heard a presentation Aug. 14 at their weekly work session from Sheriff Brian King and Chief Deputy Amy Bundy. They agreed to consider it at their regular meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the commissioners’ meeting room at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.
“This is just an option for people. Some people still want a deputy, which other agencies don’t offer,” Bundy said.
King said Mark Lane, chief financial officer, and the county’s information technology department had been looking for solutions for a couple of years, but some cost $25,000 a year versus $13,000 for this one.
Implementing the new system would take about five months, so the plan was not to go through the budget process because they want to be aggressive in getting the word out to the public, he said.
According to a staff memo, “County residents will be able to select this service from a link on our website and follow the prompts to report on various crimes, including burglaries, identity theft, lost property, malicious mischief and theft.
“Residents will then be able to choose if they wish future notifications about the progress of their case and if they would like to print their final case report. This will allow us to more fully capture this information, which previously may have gone unreported due to the inability or inconvenience to residents of coordinating with a deputy.”
Said King: “We’d been looking for a solution to archaic, unsupported software. Citizens who want to report misdemeanor crimes can sit at home and do it or if they need a case report or progress report but don’t want to wait. If stolen property is recovered, the person can be notified and asked for any additional follow-up.”
The system has worked well for the Port Angeles Police Department and the sheriff’s office would add some features, King said. Every report would be reviewed by a deputy and if it’s incomplete, the deputy could contact the person, he said.
“The response has been positive. It’s a really good resource and it’s affordable, $1,000 a month. This will reduce a lot of costs,” King said.
The system also would provide citizens with a police report so their insurance company won’t have to request one, he said.
“It will be a more accurate recording of our crime stats, and it will go into our neighborhood crime analysis. There will be a review of every single report so we don’t miss anything,” King said.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
