DEAR PROBE
QOn CrimeReports.com, I used to be able to go, and it would tell me all the crimes that happened in my neighborhood or any neighborhood in El Centro, the past week, etc. For the past two months, there has been nothing on there. I know there are still crimes being committed as usual. I would like to find out why they are no longer reporting them on crime maps, and if they are going to resume listing them in the future, as I like to be aware of what is going on in my neighborhood. My guess is that the crimes have increased so much, maybe they don’t have time to even input them anymore and have a backlog, or maybe they are short staffed. — Neighborhood Watcher, El Cent
AEl Centro Police Department Cmdr. Aaron Reel tells Probe that ECPD was in a limited-term contract with Command Central (CrimeReports.com) as an analytical tool for crime and law enforcement efforts in the city of El Centro. “That product had the public side where information was published and made available in a searchable format for the public,” he said. “The data was a digital aggregate from our internal records management system and automatically mapped the information the reader is inquiring about.
“Although informative, this program did not meet our needs or expectations, and as a result, we did not renew the contract for the program. The mapping information is no longer being updated as a result.” That is why the information on crimereports. com does not appear to be current, Reel said. “We are currently in the process of working with another vendor for a similar, more versatile program which better meets our needs as well as offering a similar public side as that of CrimeReports.com.”
Reel said it is the department’s intention to announce the new program when it is up and running, in an effort to better inform the public as to the crime and enforcement activities in their areas.
He said the information needed for the program is extracted, mapped and posted electronically. Staffing levels would not adversely impact the ability of the program in its operation, he added.