Would you like to learn about crime trends in your neighborhood? Here you can find out how to do it

Idaho Falls – The local law enforcement authorities recently presented a new website on which the residents of Idaho Falls and the surrounding area encouraged to make themselves more aware of their surroundings. That's how it works.

In February, the police authority of Idaho Falls and the office of the Sheriff of Bonneville County presented MAP for public security, an interactive website on which everyone can examine the jurisdiction of IFPD and BCSO.

Jessica Clements, spokeswoman for the Idaho Falls police authority, says the card is intended to increase the transparency between law enforcement authorities and the public.

“The card should be a way for people to collect information about what is going on around them, where their business or neighborhood is,” says Clements. “It is easily made available, in a way that does not affect examinations or persistent sensitive problems.”

According to Bonneville County spokesman SGT. Bryan Lovell, the card does not contain any incidents that are managed by Idaho State Police, but cases with which IFPD or BCSO supported the agency.

How it works

If you look at the card, you have to select a date area on the left side of the screen, regardless of whether you want to see BCSO, IFPD incidents or both and then the type of data.

You can see a certain area or a certain area to explore everything from aircraft accidents, fires, missing people, social exams and much more. You can also select all incidents within a certain date area.

“One of the advantages of public security is that they can look at things over a longer period of time,” says Clements. “If you want to see everything that happened in your neighborhood last year, you could do that.”

As soon as you have selected what you want to see, gray dots will appear in the general area in which a crime or an incident took place over 72 hours earlier.

If you click on these points, you will be brought closer to the card and certain incidents described in red. The red dots give you the type of incident, date and time, incident number and the general block address of the call so as not to penetrate another privacy.

“If you want to see everything that happened in the last month or such things, you can see what is going on near you,” says Clements. “You can see it over time.”

The BCSO data include Ammon, Iona, Swan Valley, Irwin and Ucon. The sheriff's office will also react to a few calls within the city of Idaho Falls and IFPD mainly react to calls within the borders of the city of Idaho Falls.

According to Lovell, it is important to note that the UCON has its own police department that is not included on the map, but shows data from incidents to which the Sheriff's office has reacted in the Ucon city borders.

Purpose of the website

When the population in East Idaho grows, the soon -to -be the police authorities will often call to learn statistics about their potential new districts, says Clements. This website is a direct resource for this information.

“We sometimes get questions from people, whether they move or live in an area, and they say:” Hey, I just want to know what types of things happen in this area or go around me, “says Clements.” And that should give people this kind of information. “

The public incident card differs from the PulsePoint app. PulsePoint tells the users where their local fire brigade reacts at any time, but not updated any details about the incidents when they are over. The public incident card should not be used if a crime or an incident acts actively and gives users the history of criminal incidents.

The card is updated every 15 minutes, with a delay of 72 hours added to the card in three days. According to Clements, this serves to ensure the safety of civil servants, sensitive investigations and the protection of crime scene.

“We do not want this to be a tool in which people look at it and go:” Oh, I can say that there are many police officers here, and I will go there and see what's going on “because it endangers them and brings them in the direction,” says Clements. “It makes it harder for the officials to take care of what's going on, and if we have people who have a bad intention to do professions for public security, we do not want this to be a tool that is used in this way.”

According to Clements, another reason for the delay is to ensure that all information on the website is 100% precise by the time of its publication.

“Sometimes when information goes out very quickly, there are things that change or not always right right from the start,” says Clements. “If there is this delay, you will receive more detailed information.”

After creating an account, users can also determine certain areas such as their neighborhood, their workplace or near a company that they own and decide whether notifications should be obtained or not if an incident has occurred in a selected radius or not. To do this, click on “Create the alarm” at the top of the page.

“The hope is that it is something that is suitable for transparency and that people can see what is going on,” says Clements. “If there is information that the public must know immediately, we will use other ways and tools to get this information for you immediately.”

According to the IFPD, there are not all calls to which BCSO and IFPD react in the call list of incidents, since certain call types are excluded to protect sensitive examinations and victims.

The law enforcement authorities warn against using this card to “draw overarching conclusions about crime trends or police activities”.

“If you need such activities, we invite you to contact the respective police agency to get help to ensure that you have precise and complete data with a clear understanding of the information provided,” says the map website.

According to Lovell, the card is a great way for people to familiarize themselves with the trends of criminal activities in their areas, and encourages people to contact the law enforcement authorities to talk about everything they are concerned about in a certain area of ​​the city.

“When people worry about crime activities in their area and what's going on, they can always call and talk to us about it,” says Lovell. “I think it will really help people to be aware of their surroundings.”

To find the incident card, click here or under IdahoFallpolice.com. Under the “Information” tab, click on “Public Safety Border”. You can also go to Bonnevillesheriff.com and then click on “Public Safety Incident Map” under the “Resources” tab.