NAUGATUCK — Residents can now download "iWatch Naugatuck," a smartphone application that will allow them to submit anonymous crime tips, public works complaints and bullying reports.
"It could be a game changer here in Naugatuck," said Alan Merly, director of information technology for the Board of Education.
The police department Friday unveiled the free application, or "app," which can be found in app stores on the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry by searching for "iWatch Naugatuck."
The app can be used to leave tips in the form of voice recordings, text messages, photos or video. The information is first sent to a server independent of the police department, where identifying information such as phone numbers or email addresses are scrambled so police cannot see them. Tipsters can choose to provide information so the police department can follow up with them.
The app can also be used for "311 tips," or quality-of-life complaints that might not be crimes, such as potholes, downed trees or broken street lights. Those tips are routed to the mayor and public works department using the same methods to keep the tipsters anonymous, said Lt. Bryan Cammarata of the Naugatuck Police Department.
Merly said he is working on customizing the app so students at City Hill Middle School and Naugatuck High School can send tips about weapons, drugs and bullying in schools to their resource officers and administrators, rather than police.
People without smartphones can also submit voice or text tips to 203-307-1121, a number set up by iWatch that will scramble the tipsters' phone numbers.
Police dispatchers and some administrators can access tips, but they might not be seen until the next day, Cammarata said. Urgent information should still be reported through 911 calls.
"It does not replace 911," Merly said. "It's not intended to."
Residents can also use the app to register for crime alerts that police will send out to users. Examples include reports of missing children, wandering seniors or surveillance photos of suspects that police want help identifying.
The app could help police investigate all kinds of crimes, from murder down to vandalism, Cammarata said. People can see something, take a photo or video and send the tip in later from a safe place, secure in the knowledge that even the police do not know where the information is coming from, Cammarata said.
The sheer ease of reporting a tip from a smartphone, rather than calling or going to the police department, could also lead to more tips, Cammarata said.
"No law enforcement agency wants to hit a dead end in their leads," Cammarata said. "We're very excited to have another tool here to be able to use to obtain information."
Police did not have exact figures Friday on the cost of the app, but officers said earlier this year they would budget at least $7,000 for it from a technology maintenance account. Renewals could cost as much as $6,000 annually.
Bridgeport has signed up for the app, and police there credit it with helping them solve high-profile cases, including a murder. Milford is also contemplating purchasing the app.
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