Abigail Margulis

amargulis@citizen-times.com

HAYWOOD COUNTY - A new tool called RAIDS Online has been launched in Haywood County to let citizens know about crime in their community, according to the Haywood County Sheriff's Office.

“Citizens want to see what crimes are happening in or near their neighborhood,” said Sgt. Matt Shell with the Haywood County Sheriff's Office. “Another example would be the people who want to relocate here. When choosing a neighborhood, they want to see what is going on in that area.”

When citizens visit the website belonging to the sheriff's office, they now can view an online crime map that shows where crime has occurred and analyzes crime data. The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and BAIR Analytics Inc. have partnered to offer this technology to citizens in the area, according to a news release.

Website users will also have the ability to send anonymous tips to authorities.

The new web feature will allow law enforcement officers to track crime trends, allowing them to better utilize resources over time, Shell said.

RAIDS Online automatically syncs with the sheriff's online records system to keep crime information updated online and on a mobile App. Crimes that occur will be updated on the website by 5 a.m. the following morning and site users can look through data as far back as a full year.

RAIDS Online searches and geocodes the crime data then displays all of the incidents (with few exceptions) including the type of crime, street on which the crime occurred, and a time and date associated with the crime committed, according to a news release. Users can simply select the type of crime they are interested in tracking from a checklist or choose to track everything listed.

Crimes that appear on the map have occurred in the Haywood County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction. Users will not be able to view incidents that have happened in the city limits of the four municipalities of Haywood County.

An information session will be held Thursday where Shell will demonstrate how to use the new RAIDS Online technology at a Seniors and Law Enforcement Together meeting. The meeting will take place 2-3 p.m. Thursday at the Waynesville Library. The event is free to the public. Telephone, computer and personal scams will also be discussed.

To browse the new RAIDS Online crime map for Haywood County, visit www.haywoodncsheriff.com