The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has launched a new app that will notify the public about major crimes and other ongoing safety issues in the county.
The app allows smartphone users to lookup the inmate roster at the Franklin County Jail, see news about the sheriff and easily file offense reports online.
“It’s the way everybody conducts business nowadays,” Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said in a news release. “Everyone has a smartphone. You take your phone out, you punch on an app, and all the information is there. And for us, information provides safety, and that’s the most important part.”
Major Kelly Keys says users will be notified of major crimes, road closures, snow emergencies and other information based on Baldwin's discretion.
Keys gave an example of the Fairfield County Sheriff using the same app to notify parents about a false active shooter threat at a local high school.
"Everybody in the area panicked and was on their way to the high school to see what was going on. The sheriff's department was able to make that notification, push it out quick enough for everybody to the phones that downloaded the app and said 'Okay, hold on, this is not an active shooter event. Please do not respond to the high school,'" Keys said.
Keys said the app won't operate like some social media apps citizens use to track crime in their neighborhoods, like Nextdoor or the Citizen app. He said this app will include more reliable information.
"No, it's not going to be like that. This is the more professional side of it. We're pushing out facts," Keys said.
Keys says officials eventually want to add a feature to the app that allows users to see where and what type of call deputies are being dispatched to.
