Published: June 12, 2008 11:59 am      

City police activity on crime-tracking Web site

CUMBERLAND - Having a hard time sleeping? Log on to www.crimereports.com and find out if there's reason for your uneasy feeling.

Cumberland Police Chief Charles Hinnant presented to Mayor Lee Fiedler and the City Council on Tuesday the new Web site that allows police officers, elected officials and the general public to go online and view recent crime statistics in their neighborhoods.

Hinnant said the tool helps police officers to detect patterns in a wide variety of ways. It's easier than going through two weeks' worth of reports hoping to notice a pattern.

Residents can sign up online to receive automatic alerts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, via e-mail, if and when a crime occurs near their home, office or school. Cumberland signed up for the program May 1, the third police agency in Maryland to do so. There are now 20 agencies in the state, including the Allegany County Sheriff's Office and the police departments in Lonaconing and Westernport.

Frostburg, Hinnant said, is "seriously considering" the program.

"Fascinating," said Councilman Butch Hendershot.

Most in the audience thought so, too - especially given the cost of $99 per month. For the first 12 months, Gov. Martin O'Malley's Office of Crime, Control and Prevention will pick up the tab.

Cumberland Police have worked with the Utah-based software company to customize the program to protect a victim's identity. No specific addresses will be given, Hinnant said, only the "800 block on" whichever street the crime occurred. The information is updated each night.

Those who log on also can send a tip directly from the screen to the police department. Users first view a Google topographic map with street names but they also can view a satellite image or a hybrid of the two.

Placing the computer user's cursor over a colored flag brings up a balloon detailing the date and type of crime. Hinnant said his department is among the first in the nation to include the disposition of the crime.

He said the effort for some police departments across the country to integrate their reporting system has been labor-intensive but "for us, it's not."

"What you're seeing today is crimes (that) occurred yesterday in Cumberland," Hinnant said.

Hinnant and three officers, Lt. Larry Gyger, Sgt. Chuck Ternent and Jon Daddysman, the city's information technology technician, visited the Riverdale Park Police Department in Prince George's County April 23 for a demonstration of the program by Police Chief Teresa Chambers. The city started the program about a week later.

Hinnant said he hoped the state would continue to fund the program next year - but keeping the program, even if they don't, is a possibility.

"If they don't, and the program is as successful as I hope it will be and we have the funding ability in our budget, we certainly will consider the $99 monthly fee to remain active in the program," Hinnant said.

Success, Hinnant said, is not measured by the number of users who log onto the system but "solving one crime and getting a victim's stolen property returned, or preventing additional criminal activity in a neighborhood. (That) far outweighs the relatively inexpensive cost of better informing the public along with providing clear, concise directions to our officers concerning criminal activity occurring in their patrol area."

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.