During Tuesday nights Antioch City Council meeting, the Antioch Police Department announced and demonstrated a free Smart Phone Application. The application is available for free download on iTunes and GooglePlay where people can stay connected wherever they are with mobile access wherever they are.
The application allows news, crime maps, alerts, social media, filing reports and more.
- The application allows users to file an online report directly from the phone
- The user can submit a tip for a crime already committed
- A Phone Directory is available
- You can listen to the scanner
- Crime Maps are available to view (3 day windows)
- Photographs are available
- A link to the police department YouTube showing videos
- A News Feed can write information bulletins to the public
- A link to the police department website
- A link to the police department Facebook page
- A link to the police department Twitter Feed
“I think the feature people will find most helpful is the alert function,” said Captain T. Brooks. “The alert function, a supervisor from the field will be able to send an alert to anyone who has this mobile application. For example, if there is a missing child, a supervisor can access the application and create an alert and send it out in live time to anyone who has the application. This can be an amber alert, missing person, traffic or any other incident.”
According to Brooks, no taxpayer was spent in developing this application. Antioch Police are 1-of-15 agencies to have their own application which was aimed at maintain a close relationship with the public. He also shared this was their initial launch and they will continue to be adding features.
Mayor Wade Harper was pleased with the demonstration.
“This is great, this is outstanding,” said Mayor Harper. “We are giving the citizens another way to contact the police. But we also have to realize that when we make this more available and accessible, crime reports are going to go up. They are going to be more reports of crime and our statistics are going to be higher. People need to understand that there will be more burglary reports.”
Councilman Tony Tiscareno complimented the ease of the application.
“While you were doing the demonstration, I went on their and downloaded the application on my phone so I think if we can promote this and accessibility, it’s so easy to download. This is a good thing,” said Tiscareno. “Technology is wonderful when it does work.
Councilwoman Monica Wilson applauded the police department in this effort.
Captain Brooks said he found intriguing that no other agency in Contra Costa County that has this technology. Locally, Santa Cruz and Stockton are the two closest cities with the technology.
“Really, this was following the vision the Chief laid out for us about wanting to be transparent, want to have close interactions with the public and I saw this as a tool to help us do just that,” said Brooks.
According to Captain Brooks, the next step is taking public feedback and add to the application.
To Download:
- Apple Store – Click here
- GooglePlay – Click here
10 comments
The police scanner does not seem to work on my tablet.
So for the iPhone you have to search for Antioch Police and on Google you have to search for Mobile Anitoch PD. Just in case others are looking for these apps.
CCW Supporter, direct links to both platforms were included.
Totally understand that, but if someone is looking from a PC and reads this article then tries to look for it from their phone to download either from the Apple App Store or Google Play, it doesn’t do them any good. I was trying to help those that may decide to look at these apps later from their phone or other mobile device, if they didn’t directly read this article from the mobile app they wish to download it too.
Why do you need to access my phone ,location,media,and camera etc. ?
I think a lot of App designers are just lazy and when they publish their Apps, they just check all the boxes that they think the App needs without really thinking about it. I saw one dictionary App that wanted access to my contacts. Really?
Mr Zaragoza I don’t under stand your question. I don’t have a smart phone only a filp phone so that is probably why I don’t understand. Someone enlighten me please.
Nice! Welcome to the 21st century Antioch! This is a step in the right direction.
Sherrel is right,
The app may have “access” but that doesn’t mean the police have access to your phone or info.
Anyways, I’ll be using this for sure!
Why even use this app? You can get “radio scanner” on both platforms and listen directly to the police scanner. o.O?
Because most people use phones instead of a laptop or desktop these days, especially as far as mobility is concerned. Development is easier and more cost effective too.
Plus, it’s about a lot more than just the scanner.
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