Have you ever seen flashing blue lights in your neighborhood and wanted to know what was going on? Do you want to find out how safe your neighborhood really is? Now you can, through a new partnership between the Benton Police Department and CrimeReports, creators of the National Crime Map, at www.CrimeReports.com.

“Providing reliable, timely information to our citizens is one of our top priorities,” says Chief Kirk R. Lane. “Partnering with CrimeReports gives us the ability to keep the public informed on a regular basis as to what is going on in our community.” Chief Lane added that the public can access the crime map 24 hours a day through the website or through the CrimeReports iPhone app, available for free download in the Apple iTunes store. The new service even allows our citizens to sign up for free customizable email alerts, so they can stay on top of crime in their neighborhood.  Anonymous tips can also be made via www.CrimeReports.com.  “Information is power,” Chief Lane added, “and we hope that giving the community this information, it will empower them to make informed decisions, help to improve community safety and prevent crime in their neighborhoods.”

“The Benton Police Department is a leader in law enforcement innovation,” says Greg Whisenant, founder and CEO of CrimeReports. “They are demonstrating their commitment to the community, to proactive policing, and fiscal responsibility.”

Benton PD is joining over 1,600 other law enforcement agencies of all sizes across North America who share their crime information with the public through the map, like Baltimore, Boston, San Jose, San Francisco, Portland, Washington D.C., Los Angeles County, and more.

Officers with the Benton Police Department will be teaching courses on how to use the new system.  The course will be held on January 25th and 27th, at 2:00 PM, 3:30 PM, 7:00 PM, and 8:00 PM on both days.  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. 

Those planning on attending are encouraged to bring their laptop computers and an air card or tethering device that would 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. 

You can access your local crime map and sign up for daily, weekly, or monthly email crime alerts at www.CrimeReports.com.