"One of the things that we are looking at right now is a system where by people can actually go online and see what kind of crime activity has taken place in their neighborhood," said Manchester Chief of Police Michael Hall. "We haven't gone live with it yet. There are some costs associated with it, but it's a way of keeping the community informed."
The software would provide community members with an opportunity to anonymously provide the police with any information they may have about a particular crime.
If use of the software is approved by the Select Board, Hall said he would like to implement it by the end of the summer.
The police department has also begun using a new communications system called the Nixle Community Information Service. Use of the technology began last month and it allows the Manchester Police Department to create and publish messages that are delivered to subscribed residents via cell phone text message and/or e-mail.
So far this year there have been 11 burglaries and two arrests for burglary. There have been no arrests for stolen property and three for unlawful trespass, according to the Manchester Police Department.
This year's numbers are coming close to the 13 burglaries that were reported in 2009. However, the numbers are still significantly
Of those burglaries reported in 2010, 10 arrests were made for burglary, four arrests for possession of stolen property, and 17 arrests for unlawful trespass. In 2011, two suspects were arrested in connection with burglaries while five were arrested for possession of stolen property and four for unlawful trespass, according to previous reports.
In a previous interview, Hall explained that while initially a call might come in as a burglary, the charge may be different. As an example, Hall said a burglary call might result in them finding an individual in possession of the stolen property, but they couldn't prove that that person was responsible for the burglary.
If use of the software is approved, Hall said he believes it will be of assistance when it comes to burglaries - something that is of extreme importance to the Manchester Police Department.
"It will help indicate any type of patterns and crimes," said Hall. "That combined with information obtained from other agencies ... will assist us in basically applying the manpower when needed during those peak times when we believe those types of crimes are taking place."
Hall continued to say that the Manchester Police Department was working with other agencies both in and out of state because there is the suspicion that many crimes are being committed by people from outside of the area.
In looking at some of the statistics from a small area such as Manchester, Hall said they can be "kind of alarming." He explained that if someone were to look at a six month period for an area like Manchester he said people would see a lot of activity. However, he said that didn't necessarily mean that the amount of offenses had increased, but rather that people would just be more aware of them because of the software.
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