Online reporting to respond to ‘changing nature of crime’

A new system that allows residents to report crimes online is being seen as the “first step in a long journey to modernise and innovate” policing.

Lincolnshire Police expects around one in ten people to switch to the new online service.

Superintendent Kieran English, head of contact management, said it recognised that not everyone wants to engage with the force in the same way.

“Some people prefer to speak directly to someone, others may prefer to contact us electronically,” he said.

“We just want to make sure that we offer every opportunity for the public to tell us what is happening in their communities so we can respond.

“Any reporting of low-level crime that comes in electronically will be dealt with within 24 hours, but fewer non-emergency calls will allow us to respond to assistance from the public that little bit quicker too.”

Supt English said the force was working on a range of new ideas that harness new technology to improve the services offered to the public.

The new online reporting software will take people through an easy step-by-step process to log the incident and will give each user a unique reference number.

People will be asked to leave a phone number or an email address and each incident filed will be followed up with contact from an officer.

The system is designed to be used for reporting non-emergency incidents. It will not replace the existing 101 number, which will remain in use.

Lincolnshire Police said other forces which have launched similar services have found that around one in ten people switch from reporting their crime by phone to the new online alternative.

At the moment Lincolnshire’s force control room receive more than 14,000 calls per month – with around 20 per cent being 999 calls.

The project is a joint initiative by a project team at Lincolnshire Police and police and crime commissioner Marc Jones.

Mr Jones said the new service was part of his plan to “continue to transform Lincolnshire Police into a modern and innovative force” that can “tackle the changing nature of crime and respond to differing community needs”.

“This is a really exciting initiative and the project team have done a great job developing this new concept,” he said.

“I believe this is the first step in a long journey to modernise and innovate so we have a force capable of utilising technology to engage with residents, forge partnerships with communities, fight crime and support victims.”