After a two months of “system modifications,” online crime reports might be available again by the end of the month, police say.
Several years ago the Dallas Police Department launched an online crime report database by which the public can search Dallas crimes by beat, reporting area, address and/or name. Neighborhood crime watch groups, individuals and the media use these reports for various reasons. For example, the ability to search daily, weekly and monthly crime reports is important to neighborhood crime-watch organization. Darrell Wood, a volunteer liaison between Dallas Police and Lake Highlands Volunteer in Patrol groups, says that at a VIP training class last week, police told the group that they did not know when the online reports would again be available. Northeast commander Andrew Acord says that reports could be available by the end of the month, hopefully. He adds that the department apologizes for the inconvenience.
“It’s been a bit frustrating for all of us. We are working daily to make modifications to the system and the officers are adjusting to the new system as well. Please be patient with us as we experience growing pains,” he notes.
Meanwhile, vigilant residents say they are using sites such as Facebook and NextDoor, neighborhood emails and Google groups to report and stay abreast of crimes that occur in the neighborhood.
As for the media, we have been told we can file an open records request if we want a report on a specific crime.
