Milan Police map crimes in their community

MILAN, Tenn. — A West Tennessee police department is using new technology to give residents a better understanding of crime in their community. Using high-tech data and mapping officers said it not only helps visualize crimes but it may help prevent them.

Milan Police recently launched new crime mapping software created by Motorola. It not only keeps the public informed but also works as a tool for community policing, giving officers a visual idea of where they need to focus their daily patrols.

“For us to be able to prevent and solve crime we have to know accurately where it’s at,” Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said. “If we can look on a map, it just helps to visualize it.”

Using a software called “Crime Reports”, every time an incident is filed by a Milan officer it pops up on a map. Putting first hand information in the hands of officers.

“They’re responsible for a certain zone of the city,” Chief Sellers said. “They can log in and see what’s happened in their area and what areas they need to patrol.”

The system can also be accessed by citizens, concerned about their neighborhoods. Police hope it works as a tool for them to report crime.

“They give us more eyes to look for things that are about to happen,” Sellers said. “If something does happen and they see it they can call us too.”

As data is collected on the map, officers can see trends. Lighter colors show less crime while darker colors show trouble areas.

“That officer that’s working in that zone or that hot spot we can have them step up patrols in that part of the town,” the Chief said.

Although Milan has a relativity low crime rate, officers said this new technology should help keep it that way.

“We don’t have a lot of violent crime in Milan but we do have crime like every city,” Chief Sellers said. “So we see some trends that we’re going to start trying to fix.”

One other great feature of this new system, homes or businesses who have their own security cameras can register them with the department so officers know where to look if a crime occurs in their area.

The new system cost Milan Police about $4,500, funds that were taken from the department’s budget.

If you’d like to access it yourself click here.