KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: You're Invited to the Benton Police Crime Information Training

(KATV, Source: Benton PD) Officers with the Benton Police Department will be teaching a course on how to use the new anonymous tip software and the Crime Reports program. 

The course will be held on February 21^st starting at 6:00 PM, and it will be held in the council chamber at the Benton Municipal Building located at 114 S. East Street.  The course is open to all residents and there is no pre-enrollment required to attend. 

Through a partnership with CrimeReports, creators of the national crime map at www.crimereports.com, the Benton Police Department is giving Benton citizen's free access to the world's largest online crime map. Together with CrimeReports, citizens are also able to send anonymous tips to law enforcement via text message, iPhone and Android.

The new service even lets local citizens sign up for free customizable email alerts, so they can stay on top of crime in their neighborhood. "Information is power," Chief Lane added. "And we hope that giving the community this information will help them understand crime trends and lower crime in their neighborhoods."

Along with the interactive crime map on the Crime Reports website, citizens also have access to the anonymous tipping platform TipSoft, which is used by more than 700 law enforcement agencies nationwide. The service allows people to anonymously provide tips to law enforcement. When a tip is sent, it is encrypted and routed through secure servers, protecting the personal details of the tip provider.  It also allows police to exchange text messages with the tip provider without ever knowing the person's identity. Text users can send their tip to "CRIMES" (274637) with the keyword BNPD.

Those planning on attending are encouraged to bring their laptop computers or tablets that will enable them to work with the system first hand.   They will be taught how to customize the system to their neighborhood, how to search for various crimes including sex offenders, and setup email notifications when crimes are reported.  A laptop computer is not required to attend this course, because a real-time version of the system will be on display.  www.bentonpolice.org