From Deseret News archives:
S.L. police expanding presence on Web
Chief to post monthly video messages on site
Burbank will be posting his "Message from the Chief" on the first Monday of each month at www.slcpd.com. The goal is to make the police department more public-friendly and accessible by utilizing communication mediums such as the Internet, Burbank said.
In Burbank's inaugural video address, he welcomes people to the Web site, talks about the opportunities for the public to help officers and reminds residents during the holiday shopping season to not leave valuables in their vehicles.
The video messaging is just the latest addition to the department's continually growing Web presence.
"This is just another avenue to get more information out," he said. "We're trying to make our Internet content as worthwhile," as possible, he said.
In September, the department announced it was making its own MySpace page that juveniles or parents could add as a friend.
The advantage of increasing the department's Internet presence is it gives police the opportunity to distribute information first hand rather than relying on a secondary outlet such as the media which may face space or time constraints, he said.
Another feature of the department's Web site is current crime statistics in the form of both monthly stats and a link to the Web site CrimeReports.com, which provides free online mapping of where crimes have been reported over the past 30 days or where registered sex offenders live.
"We want to get as much information out there as we can," Burbank said. "In the past, the public had to wait until community council meetings to get those numbers."
One of the most popular features of the Salt Lake Police Department's Web site is the Most Wanted section.
"We've already had tremendous success putting wanted people on there. We even had one person see themselves on the Web site," and surrender, he said.
In the future, Burbank hopes to add features that will allow citizens to make police reports online for minor crimes such as car burglaries. Online reporting will give residents immediate feedback rather than waiting for an officer to clear off a higher priority call and arrive.
"I think we're headed in the right direction," Burbank said.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
