The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department could soon launch an app to help keep residents in the know about public safety situations and things it’s been doing.
Speaking to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners last week, Sheriff Chuck Heit said he’s working with TheSheriffApp.com, a company that helps public safety agencies set up these services. He said the idea is to make sure people have timely, accurate information.
“We’ve been looking at that for quite a while, of a way to be more transparent and get information directly to the public in a way that we’re controlling,” Heit said. “I would say the truth of the message. You have a lot of social media out there about listening to scanners and what happens and different things, but it’s a way for us to communicate.”
David Garrison, a national public safety advisor with TheSheriffApp, told commissioners the service could be used to spread information about traffic issues, emerging threats, weather, jail inmates, and anything else the sheriff’s department wants to share. He said this is better than going through existing social media channels.
“You’re at the mercy of their rules, their regulations, their community standards, their opinions,” Garrison said. “With the mobile app, you have 100% control how, when, and where your message goes out to.”
Heit said the sheriff’s department would still use those old services, but having the app would be a better way to reach people directly.
“A way to put that in people’s hands right away if there’s a major traffic issue or an issue going on in the county, work with dispatch where they’d have the ability to just push information out.”
Garrison said with an estimated 94% of people between 13 and 49 now using smart phones, an app is the way to reach them. Heit said the cost of launching TheSheriffApp and maintaining it can be absorbed by the sheriff’s department budget.
The next steps for the department include making the purchase, developing the app, and getting it up on the major app stores for people to install for free.