QUEENSBURY — Warren County residents can be able to interact with the County Sheriff’s Office via a mobile phone app beginning this spring.
The app will permit the corporation to alert citizens to emergencies and situations including climate issues or road closures, check the sex offender registry or pending warrants, examine press releases and provide anonymous law enforcement recommendations to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office had been working with the county Information Technology Department to increase the software program, however, the county employer changed into not able to finish the venture due to staffing problems.
“We had been hoping to have this up four years in the past,” Sheriff Bud York stated.
So the Sheriff’s Office plans to contract with a developer from Alabama that makes a specialty of law enforcement organization smartphone apps, at a price now not to exceed $14,540, with the cash to return from profits the county makes whilst promoting gadgets to inmates at the county prison commissary.
“This will make interactions with the general public extra robust, which is essential,” stated Chester Supervisor Craig Leggett, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.
County Undersheriff Shawn Lamouree said some of the nearby law enforcement groups have developed cellular telephone apps to better interact with the public, consisting of the Washington County Department of Public Safety and Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
“People are becoming used to the era, and use their phones for the whole thing,” he said. “When we have an emergency event or road closure, they (the public) might be alerted.”
The app might be to be had for iPhone and Android platforms and might be loose through their app shops, starting as soon as next month.
Johnsburg Supervisor Andrea Hogan talked about that the app is not of a good deal use in regions in which citizens can’t get online, as elements of the county cope with persevered insurance troubles.
“I’m going to remind everyone that this app is best as suitable as our broadband and cell coverage, and we need to preserve the pressure up on that,” Hogan said.
Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy said his office checked out developing an app but decided to use the free MobilePatrol phone app and a strong social media presence alternatively.
“We have a great following, and people see what we are doing on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram,” Murphy stated.
