Personal Injury Law

Community Can Fight Crime, Too: Elmira Police Open Log Books Online

By Jim Reed

The Elmira Police Department has a great new feature on their website that could make a big difference in how the public interacts with and perceives the department.

“Daily Activity Logs” allow anyone with Internet access to look at the last two weeks of Elmira Police Department incident records. The department has always had a daily activity log, a record of all incidents reported a 24-hour period beginning at midnight. With this new online service, the logs are available to view online for 14 days.

What’s on the log sheet

1. The incident blotter number - a reference anyone can use when calling the department to share information about the incident or to find out more.
2. The date and time the call was received.
3. Type of call - whether it was a traffic stop, a disturbance, larceny or other type of incident.
4. The number of the responding police unit.
5. The location of the incident.
6. This is very important - how YOU can report suspicious activity by calling 271-HALT or visiting www.271halt.com.

I applaud the Elmira Police Department’s effort to involve the public by sharing more information. Sharing these day-to-day details so quickly with the community will serve to make more residents a part of the effort to control crime in Elmira. Part of the department’s stated values is “achieving excellence in our services in our citizens through community-based, proactive policing.”

As Deputy Police Chief David Gardner said in the WETM story “New Elmira Police Service” (also pasted below), “Our community is our eyes and ears.”

Thanks for reading,
Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

New Elmira Police Service

Reported by: Naveen Dhaliwal
Last Update: 3/12 8:05 pm

ELMIRA - A new Elmira police web service will now allow you to keep a closer eye on what the department is doing.

There’s a new section on the police department’s website called Daily Activity Logs.

Every time an officer is sent to an incident they write a report or a log. Each log is assigned a blotter number. If anyone wants more information, they can request it through the police department using that number.

Officials say this service will reduce the workload for officers. They are also hoping people will step forward and provide more information to help their investigations.

“Our community is our eyes and ears. There’s usually between six and eight officers out there on the streets at any given time, but it’s a city, so we can’t be everywhere at the same time,” says Deputy Police Chief David Gardner.

The daily logs will remain on the website for two weeks.

You can find them at: www.cityofelmira.net/police/blotter.html.

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Full post as published by New York Injury Law Blog on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).