How Our Police App Facilitates Crime Solving Through Community Involvement

Solving a crime involves many people and several steps. It is for these reasons that law enforcement professionals often work long, extensive hours. One way police officers can reduce their time on a case without jeopardizing the incident is by encouraging community policing. A community policing app takes this technique to a new, more effective level.

What is Community Policing and How Can it Effectively Assist Law Enforcement?

Community policing is a method or technique some law enforcement agencies implement within their respective jurisdictions. When police departments ask the public for leads or when they take information acquired from citizens and use it to help solve a case, this is community policing at its finest. In addition, law enforcement can take information the public has given them and incorporate it into how they conduct patrols.

For instance, if there have been several reports of a suspicious car in a particular area or even on a certain street, law enforcement command staff can ensure their officers on duty make it a point to patrol that area. The more there is a police presence, the less likely a crime will occur.

Community policing thrives on the tips and leads citizens provide to local law enforcement. One way to increase the amount of leads that are given to local police is through a police app. An application is a convenient tool to incorporate into daily law enforcement operations. In a study conducted this year, it was revealed that 97 percent of the population owns a cellphone. Further data found that 9 out of 10 of these individuals own a smartphone. Applications make up most of the functions on smartphones. For this reason, a police app for Android or iPhone is an ideal option.

Providing citizens an easy way to contact their local police increases the chances of the public providing law enforcement with leads they may have. In addition, citizens can report an incident through a police app instead of calling their local emergency service dispatch center. The ability to report an incident or leads through a police app for Android or iPhone is effective and impactful. A community policing app may decrease response time since police may acquire the information much more quickly, and it may increase the time it takes law enforcement to apprehend a suspect. The faster police receive information, the quicker they can handle the situation.

Community policing helps law enforcement and the public they serve exchange information to enhance public safety and situational awareness for police and citizens. A community policing app can make it more convenient for an individual to send information and for police to receive it by expediting the process. Exchanging information through a police app can make a law enforcement agency more efficient. The faster information is received the more quickly police officers can respond to a call or the faster they can solve a case.

Police Apps

Traditionally, citizens must call their local emergency call center or 9-1-1 to let law enforcement know about an incident they observe or are involved in. An iPhone app for police departments or a police app for Android takes less time to use and may help maintain the integrity of the information exchanged. Additionally, sometimes when a reporting party calls a police dispatch center, the call may be dropped or it may be difficult for the dispatcher to understand the caller. Using a police app for Android or iPhone may reduce misunderstanding when a caller reports an incident.

Though landlines and handheld radios are still crucial for police work, an application can fill in gaps that traditional ways of communicating may have. For example, if an individual calls to make a police report and they are unsure of where they are located, the dispatcher must work with the person, asking them questions, and taking more time to determine where the individual is located. With an Android or iPhone app for police departments such as UCP Police from StackBench, an exact location for the reporting party can be given through the phone’s GPS coordinates. This way, police officers know exactly where to go to respond to the call. The faster law enforcement responds to the call, the more public safety is upheld.

The ease of reporting makes a community policing app the ideal solution for police departments that want to increase communication with their citizens. The UCP Police app provides a direct line of communication between citizens and local law enforcement that is also customizable. For example, through the UCP Police app, law enforcement agencies can provide additional resources for their citizens such as wellness information, community events, webinars, or other information about the police department and officers.

A police app for Android not only benefits the public within a community, but this type of technology also benefits police departments. The more police personnel communicate with one another, the more aware law enforcement officers will be about particular situations that may have happened before their shift. The majority of police departments will have briefings before the next shift begins to ensure all officers are informed of any happenings they need to follow up on and be on the lookout for.

Due to the nature of police work, there are times when a shift supervisor cannot alert all of the officers on their shift of an important situation. With a police app, command staff can send out memos easily and police officers will receive them directly on their phones. The UCP Police app lets supervisors know that their messages were read via read receipts. This particular feature not only helps police officers maintain situational awareness which enhances officer safety, but keeps them accountable as well.

Community policing apps are an effective way for law enforcement agencies to alert the public about areas in town where there may be a lot of police activity. By creating one post through the app, command staff can alert the public not just via the app, but also via several social media platforms. For example, if there is a barricaded subject in a building and specialized police units have been called out, law enforcement can make a post through the UCP Police app to let the public know they should avoid that particular area, as it could be potentially dangerous for citizens. Through an application, law enforcement can alert the public quickly and effectively.

In the same way, a police app can enable citizens to report suspicious activity they see. This is the basis of community policing. The UCP Police app has a feature that allows individuals to upload photos and videos to send to their local law enforcement agency. This way, if a citizen witnesses an incident, they can snap a photo or record a video and upload it to the police directly through the community policing application. When police officers are given an image or video of a suspicious person or vehicle shared by the public, law enforcement has an advantage. This is because they have an exact and accurate depiction of the person or vehicle they are looking for. In turn, the photos and videos sent by citizens can be shared by law enforcement on an alert or "be on the lookout" post. The better the description of a person of interest or a suspicious vehicle, the faster they may be apprehended.

Finding the Right Police App

The right police application will be easy to navigate and allows your agency to customize the application to suit the citizens you serve. The UCP Police application is customizable, easy to use, and an effective way to enhance public safety. This app is also budget-friendly for police departments and free for the public to use. The UCP Police app can easily be downloaded and used as soon as it is installed. Applications are part of smartphone technology that most of the population is familiar with.

Incorporating an Android or iPhone application for police departments into daily law enforcement operations will positively impact your department. The more citizens communicate with their local law enforcement the more trust will be built and the more public safety will be upheld.

With the UCP Police app, law enforcement officers can communicate with each other and the public they serve in a much easier way than traditional methods. In addition, a community policing app that is convenient to navigate will increase the number of tips and leads citizens to provide to their local police department. UCP Police is an app for Android and iPhone users so everyone can take advantage of this tool. An application also updates automatically. With this type of maintenance, police departments can focus on public safety without the worry of scheduling an update for the app.

Take a look at StackBench’s website now for more information regarding the benefits of the UCP Police app. Application technology has vastly increased in use in all businesses. Law enforcement can also benefit from a community policing application like UCP Police.