Residents can now track crime online

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Want to know why two police cars with their lights flashing were parked down the street from your house last night? You might ask your neighbors what they've heard -- or you could check online at crimemapping.com.

It's a Web site that displays maps showing where the Yakima, Selah and Union Gap police departments had crimes reported.

The three agencies are the first in Washington to use CrimeMapping, a system used by more than 50 law enforcement agencies across the country.

"This will be a very useful tool to make people more aware of what's going on around them," Yakima police Chief Sam Granato said Tuesday at a news conference demonstrating the CrimeMapping site.

And it's hoped that neighbors who are more aware will be more likely to provide information that could help police investigate crimes and arrest criminals.

The CrimeMapping site uses 15 different icons to represent types of crimes, and clicking on an icon will display the date, time and location of the police call and the incident report number.

The maps will not include information on domestic violence assaults, out of concern for victims.

The police departments plan to add links to their crime maps that people can use to send an e-mail -- anonymously -- with information that might be relevant to an investigation.

For example, if a resident notices on crimemapping.com that police responded to a burglary on his block, he might provide a description of a suspicious person or car he saw on the street around the time of the crime.

Yakima-area law enforcement agencies "all have to work together to combat crime," Granato said. "And citizens have a role to play. It's important they be aware of what's going on in their neighborhood."

Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin echoed that support for partnering with citizens in anti-crime efforts, and said his agency is planning to become part of CrimeMapping in the near future.

That will make information available on crime investi-gations handled by the sheriff's office and the agencies that use its dispatch service.

Yakima, Selah and Union Gap information is updated daily on the CrimeMapping site, so incidents will show up within 24 hours of when they occur.

The previous three months' incidents will be mapped and visitors can search within a specific period of time, for certain types of crime or by proximity to a designated address.

People also can receive e-mail alerts notifying them when particular types of crime are reported in their neighborhoods.

Granato said his department used about $180,000 from a federal Department of Justice grant to pay for the CrimeMapping system.