Park City Web site helping track crime

"If (residents) know they have a burglary problem in the neighborhood, then when they see a suspicious vehicle, they'll be more likely to call us," he said. "I hope it clarifies for people that there really is crime here. Not that downtown is a horrible place . . . but there are some serious things that happen up here that need to be addressed."

Salt Lake County has been posting a similar crime map on its Web site since 1998. Last month, the site was visited by the public more than 830 times, county sheriff's media specialist Jeff Jamison said. The county updates the site monthly with new statistics and divides the county by identifiable geographic areas, such as Canyon Rim, Magna and Taylorsville.

Even though he administers the site, Jamison said he checks his own neighborhood area regularly and often shares the information with his neighbors.

"It surprises the heck out of me," Jamison said.

Setting up a mapping program wasn't expensive, Gebhardt noted. The necessary computer program was only a few hundred dollars, plus staff time for Gebhardt to get it up and running. Gebhardt also maintains the program, updating the maps with weekly data on Mondays at 6 a.m.

He predicts that as more people learn about the site and begin to use it, they'll ask city police for more detailed and specific information. Gebhardt didn't have any recent site-use numbers but said that in its first few weeks online, the site averaged between 200 and 300 visitors.

"I warned (administrators) when we started that that's what normally happens in a community," he said. "As affluent and educated as Park City residents are, they will ask for more."

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com