BANGOR, Maine — When residents call to report minor crimes, such as the theft of a iPod from their car by an unknown person, police now will ask whether they want to file the paperwork online or wait for an officer.
“We will tell them there is a wait time of however many minutes and give them the option to report online,” Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said about the new reporting option. “And if they want an officer they will get one anytime.”
Residents will be directed to bangormaine.gov/policereport to file reports of minor theft, burglary to a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, vandalism and lost property, as well as crime tips and harassing or annoying phone calls.
“These incidents can only be reported online if there is no evidence to be collected, there are no suspects, [and] the incident happened within the city limits of Bangor with the exceptions of [Interstate 95] and I-395,” Edwards said in a press release.
The online option is never to be used in an emergency, the sergeant stressed.
“We don’t want emergency calls to be filed in this format,” Edwards said.
The option to use the online program is nullified if the victim knows who may have committed the crime, he said.
“If you know who committed the crime or have a suspect, give us a call,” he said.
Edwards said the new online option “will allow officers more time to address community needs while keeping pace with the public expectancy to complete services via the Internet.”
Once the report is filed online, the filer will be able to print a receipt. The report will be reviewed by police personnel and once approved, the filer will be sent an email.
“The report will transfer into the Bangor Police Department’s records management system and receive the same investigation and statistical analysis ability as if the report had been filed by a police officer,” the press release states.
Residents are already using the reporting system, Edwards said, relaying a story about a man who reported his bicycle missing and then later found it and filed a supplemental report — all online.
“That would have taken at least an hour of an officer’s time,” Edwards said.
Businesses can also use the system, he said.
The Bangor Police Department is using Desk Officer Online Reporting System software from California-based software company Coplogic Inc.
The link has been added to the city’s website.
“The service will allow the public to file a report at a time that is best for them without having to wait for an officer to respond or call them back,” the press release states.
Sorry but poorly written article.
It nearly looks like a copy and paste from Bangor PD’s facebook page
Let me get this straight, if my ipod is taken from my vehicle and I do not know who it is, I should go online and fill out a form. Is it me or do not many people carry a laptop with them to grab a wifi connection, log on to the website and report a theft that you now known about for 20 minutes now
Secondly print a receipt, while I am in the parking lot of a store that my ipod was stolen from? So how does tha twork, walk into walmart, buy a power strip and a printer and converter for the vehicle, plug it all in, print my receipt, take it all back ?
Hey can we at least see if the site is mobile friendly,or maybe you got an app for that? Be a lot easier to just log in with my phone I carry around with me and make the report, or just still continue to call the police department because that just seems faster when I want to report my ipod is missing form my car.
Re-read the headline. There is one word in the headline which serves counter to your entire rant…option…not mandate….option.
As skilled in internet and literacy you may be at, the article that was originally poorly written actually now indicates you get a choice, the prior submission in the first sentence stated if you lost an ipod from your car and didn’t know who did it, to fill out a form on line, hence my original comment
Thanks for your attempt at correcting me
I think this a great idea, now we don’t have to wait for an officer to come to us to start a report for somthing minor.The police can now be out patroling and catch those criminals.
reported the synogauge vandalism as a minor crime!
How about hire more police officers to patrol the streets. Esp on Union street from the I-95 bridge untill PCHC offices!! The way people drive between there is like if they were on I-95.
I saw Engelbert Humperdinck jay walking.
Something about filling out an online form after I’ve been ripped off makes me think that absolutely nothing will ever be done to find my stolen object.