In a move to “communicate with people the way they get information” the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office recently launched a new phone app for smartphone users. Described by the developers as a “tool to provide current and critical two-way communication between law enforcement and the community” The free app will provide a number of communication avenues to improve the safety of county residents and send information about emergency situations that arise across the county.

Sheriff Glenn Huestis first learned about the app while attending the annual meeting of the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. He explained, “There was a vendor demonstrating this phone app. It seemed to be one more way we could share information, immediately, that would be helpful to residents in Blaine County. I discussed the phone app with the vendor, then later had a follow up conversation with the folks who created the app. Our office adapted the app system to the kinds of information we felt would be most help our community.” Heustis estimated fewer than 20 law enforcement agencies in Montana have adapted the new technology to date.

Sheriff Heustis emphasized several times, “This app does not replace the 911 system. Emergency calls for an ambulance or law enforcement should still be made to 911—which accesses our county dispatch and gets the right kind of help on the way to an emergency. This new app is for non-emergency communication. It provides information from our department to the community and vice versa.”

Smartphone users are likely familiar with the limitless number of apps now available. For the uninitiated, smartphone apps are basically downloadable programs that accomplish certain tasks for the user. How popular are phone apps? At the end of 2012 it was estimated that worldwide about 1.2 billion people used phone apps. In 2012, 45 billion apps were downloaded to smartphones, estimates are that number will explode to 309 billion during 2016 alone. In North America about 18% of smartphone owners have downloaded at least one phone app. You get the drift, phone apps are a major way many people now get their information.

The new app at the sheriff’s department

The new app has a number of capabilities. Some tools are for ‘push notifications,’—giving the sheriff’s office a way to communicate impending violent weather, notice of road incidents that could limit travel and ‘Amber alert-type’ notifications regarding a missing person or possible kidnapping. Those notices are posted to the app and within seconds a phone user receives a ‘ping’ that a notice has been posted for them to read.

Other tools are more of a ‘for your information’ nature. An event calendar allows for posting of upcoming meetings or presentations involving the sheriff’s staff that are of interest to phone users. A ‘bulletin’ tool provides non-emergency information, as does ‘safety tips.’ Heustis said the latter could be used to post safety tips about driving conditions or ways to deal with impending severe weather. A ‘links’ button connects to related websites at both the county and state level—such as lists of violent and sexual offenders in Blaine County and throughout the state or the Montana Department of Transportation’s road conditions website. A ‘gallery’ tool will allow for posting of photos from events connected to the sheriff’s department. Another tool, not yet activated, will allow for the sheriff’s department to post on various social media outlets, including Facebook.

Heustis said, “The ‘wanted’ tool should be available within the next couple of weeks. That will list all the warrant arrests outstanding in Blaine County. There are other tools on the app that allow a citizen to immediately give the whereabouts of a person with an outstanding warrant.”

One of the tools the community can use to communicate information to the sheriff’s office is a ‘tip’ option. This allows a direct message to the sheriff’s department. It can be used to alert officers to the location of a wanted fugitive, to notify law enforcement of a crime in progress or even a suspected crime that is about to occur. This tool has the capability to also send photos from a smartphone. Huestis explained, “Either myself or the undersheriff will be monitoring the tip line via our own smartphones twenty-four hours a day. It’s a way we can give folks immediate feedback to a question or concern.” This tool cannot be used anonymously, with the sender required to give a cell phone number or email address for follow up and the phone user’s GPS has to be activated to use the tool. A similar tool, called ‘contact,’ sends an instant non-emergency message to both the sheriff and the undersheriff.

A ‘one touch’ button allows callers to connect to the non-emergency phone at the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office. Huestis added, “Emergencies should still be reported using 911. That’s for ambulance calls, police emergencies and other immediate requests for help.” A call to 911 goes through county dispatch and gets the caller to the kind of emergency service they need.

To download the free app

Huestis said his office has not done a lot of promotion about the new app, it’s only been in place less than a month and was still being tested. He’s shared the process for downloading the app with county department heads and the Local Emergency Planning Committee. Despite limited publicity the new app has been downloaded (onto smartphones) 233 times. And now he hopes community members will download and begin using the app.

To install the free app, go to The Play Store on your smartphone opening screen (Mac systems have a different location to find apps) and click ‘Goggle Play.’ In the search screen, type in “Blaine County Sheriff” and select “Logic Tree IT solution.” Follow the prompts to complete installation of the app on your smartphone.

You can learn more about the group that created and supports the communication app for law enforcement by going to http://www.uspdhub.com. The company’s website gives a good overview of the app, how law enforcement departments are using it and has brief explanations of the various tools incorporated into the app.

The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office has adopted a great tool to allow immediate communication regarding the safety of county residents. Now it’s up to smartphone users to take advantage of this very useful app.