Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
An interactive online crime reporting program used by the Clovis Police Department has been viewed 4,103 times since it was launched March 19, according to police Capt. Patrick Whitney.
Whitney said data indicates use of the anonymous tip line has increased 24 percent since CrimeReports was launched. There were 161 calls in April, compared to an average of 129 calls per month in the first three months of 2012.
Whitney said the April tips generated 10 confirmed criminal acts, which resulted in five arrests, almost double the rate of previous months.
One of those anonymous calls was from the neighbor of a family who was out of town. Whitney said the neighbor reported a vehicle backed up to the family's house and two people removing items from the home. The neighbor also wrote down the license plate number and police were able to recover the stolen property and apprehend the suspects.
Another tip lead police to apprehending some uninsured, unlicensed joy riding youths who were destroying mailboxes with baseball bats, Whitney said.
"We need the public to be our eyes and our ears," Whitney said. "There are only so many of us.
"What we're trying to do is get people to call us if they see anything out of the ordinary."
Whitney said officers frequently receive information during a crime investigation that could have prevented the crime, if it had been reported.
TipSoft, the new service that allows anonymous tips through phone texting, has been less active than hoped Whitney said. The service has received eight tips, five of which were narcotics related.
Whitney said overall CrimeReports has been effective and the department is pleased with the community's response.
How CrimeReports works
CrimeReports uses color coded icons to pinpoint on a map the type, time, date and location of crimes committed in Clovis.
When an icon is clicked, a drop down menu provides a police report number, details about the crime, and allows the user to anonymously report pertinent information.
The site also offers residents two additional anonymous methods of reporting crimes: by phone or text message.
On the Net
