By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

South Portland residents who want to report minor crimes can now save themselves time and money by going online. 

The city’s police department has unveiled a new Web-based system that allows the public to submit incident reports over the Internet.

Users immediately receive a free copy of the incident report by e-mail. Before the new system, residents had to go to the police station, fill out a form, pay a $10 fee and wait for the records department to produce the report. 

By using this software, created by a vendor named Coplogic, citizens can quickly obtain incident reports for their own records or for their insurance companies.

“It’s the way of the future. Lots of people want to do stuff on their computer,” said Ed Googins, South Portland’s police chief.

Called “Desk Officer Online Reporting System,” the new technology can be accessed 24 hours per day by going to www.southportland.org. Residents also can use a computer terminal in the police station lobby.  

The technology reduces the number of reports written by police officers and lets them respond more quickly to emergencies. It also gives dispatchers more time to handle higher priority calls.

“It is going to make it easier for members of the public to report certain offenses to us,” Googins said. “It’s very good customer service. I like it.”

The system is intended for low-priority crimes such as thefts, vehicle burglaries, vandalism or incidents that have no known suspects or evidence.

Reports submitted online are transferred directly into the police data management system and reviewed for follow-up action by Sgt. Tom Simonds, the department’s records manager.

The 911 system should still be used for all emergencies and non-emergency business calls should still be directed to the police department’s shift commander at 799-5511.

For people unable to use this technology, police officers will still go to a home or business to take reports in person. The response time is based on the priority of the report, according to South Portland Police Lt. Frank Clark.

Clark said it takes a resident about 10 minutes to file an incident report online and it would take an officer approximately one hour to take and write the same report himself.

“Desk Officer” also helps the deaf and hard of hearing and gives them one more way to communicate with and get services from the police department. 

The department began using the system April 28. So far, eight incident reports have been filed by the public using this new technology.

The eight reports included three for theft from a motor vehicle, two for criminal mischief, two thefts for items valued at less than $500 and one for harassment by telephone.

Clark said he believes the Coplogic system is the only one being used in Maine. It has been used by police departments in other states including Massachusetts, Florida and California, Clark said.

“We talked to a handful of them. Ten to 30 percent of their crime reports were being reported via the Internet,” Clark said.

Funding for the project was provided by a $113,000 federal grant received last fall. 

Cost of the software for the Coplogic system is $19,250. It costs $3,000 for the yearly maintenance fee, Googins said.

All of the money must be used for technology improvements and upgrades within the department. 

“I think it’s very good use of the money,” Googins said. “It’s designed to help us do our jobs better.”

In addition to the “Desk Officer” system, the grant has already paid for an automated license plate recognition system installed in one cruiser earlier this year. 

The balance of the grant money may be used for future projects such as a computerized parking ticket system or an electronic informational sign outside the police station, Googins said.

“We want to take advantage of 21^st century technology to do our jobs,” Clark said.