The Broken Arrow Police Department is taking steps to be more open with the public about crime in the city. Police are currently using CrimeMapping. It’s a website that can show Broken Arrow residents when and where crimes have occurred.
Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill said the tool allows police to be more open with residents about what’s happening in the city.
“Transparency is something we always strive for, and that is why we are able to produce statistics. This allows ordinary people to produce statistics on their own, at their own scale, in their own time. ,” Berryhill said.
From drunk driving to assault to theft, residents can easily search for crimes committed within the past six months. Residents can also see if certain crimes tend to occur in their area.
“This is great because people get on social media and someone says something and everyone panics. We don’t know if it’s a real trend or not a real trend. This way they can actually see and know what’s really going on in their neighborhood.” Berryhill said.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of CrimeMapping is that residents can set alerts for a variety of crimes.
“The new system has the advantage of being able to set up alerts before an event, so you can enter your name, register with your email address, define what you want to see, and when those things happen, When we reach an area that has been affected, we will receive an alert letting us know that these things are happening,” Berryhill said.
Once a resident registers, they will receive an alert as soon as police enter that information into the system.
CrimeMapping allows residents to see crimes committed in a radius up to 2 miles wide.
However, residents cannot confirm the exact address where the crime took place. They will be able to see the 100 blocks where the crime took place.