Want San Carlos Crime Data? It’s Now Online.

March 2, 2013

Sheriff

Sheriff Promotes Website, Social Media.

The San Mateo Sheriff's Department has turned to the internet and social media as an innovative way to keep residents updated on the criminal activity that's taking place in San Carlos, and throughout San Mateo County.   The cornerstone of this effort is a brand new website that allows citizens to search the Sheriff's crime database to better understand what types of crimes are happening in their area, and who was arrested for committing them.  The site, known as Citizen RIMS, rolled out recently and has been gaining in popularity as people have become aware of its existence.

The site as it exists today is fairly rudimentary as far as features, but the information is good and it does offer the capability to get email alerts on crimes in whatever area you specify.    Of course, the usefulness of this site is totally dependent on the timeliness and accuracy of the crime data that's uploaded by the Sheriff's Department.   It will be very interesting to see how this site evolves over time.

San Carlos Ride-Along on Twitter.

The other big announcement is that the San Carlos Bureau of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department will be the first unit in the Department to conduct a “virtual ride-along” by posting live updates about their beat on Twitter.      That event will take place tonight, March 2 from 6PM until midnight on the Sheriff's Twitter Account @SMCSheriff.   They will use the hashtag #SMCVRA for this and all of their ride-alongs.     But why stop at midnight, guys?  Doesn't all the really “good” stuff (DUI's, fights, etc.. ) happen after midnight?

Kudos to the Sheriff's Department for utilizing the internet and the various social media tools to keep the public updated.  It will be interesting to see how these efforts evolve, and what other kinds of new and interesting ways they can employ technology to keep the citizens of San Carlos up to date.

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