Santa Barbara County residents can file incident reports to the Sheriff’s Office online, following the office’s Jan. 10 release of its citizen online reporting system.
The system, which is available on the Sheriff’s Office’s website, only allows for users to file certain types of incident reports. A press release from the office said residents can report lost property, identity theft, vandalism, and vacation check requests online.
Sheriff Bill Brown said in the release that the system will help provide a 24-hour reporting option for residents when the Sheriff’s Office’s resources are otherwise limited.
“It provides convenience for victims of certain crimes and leverages our limited number of patrol deputies on any given shift,” Brown said of the system in the release. “The result is more cost-effective law enforcement service and enhanced public safety.”
The release said the citizen online reporting system will give deputies more time to address incidents filed online while still prioritizing crime trends and calls about active crimes. Sheriff’s Office staff will review and approve incident reports filed online, and citizens filing reports will be able to print them for their own records.
This article appears in Jan 12-19, 2017.
