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Indianapolis is launching a new website and mobile app intended to give residents real-time information on public safety issues.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard says "Safetown" could be one of the most powerful tools for people to stay aware and safe in the city.
"It is an exciting piece of technology and technology can solve a a lot of issues for us in a number of areas," said Ballard. "This is one of those times where technology really does connect Public Safety with the public and it's amazing what can happen."
The basic system is now up and running and the mobile app will be available in a few weeks, but Ballard says more functions will be added in the coming months. The Department of Public Safety has focused recently on providing better, more detailed crime data to the public.
Director Troy Riggs says "Safetown" provides another tool.
"What Safetown is going to do is make us even more efficient," he said. "We are going to be able to look at data and make decisions based on real time data and you are going to see that evolve more and more over time. It's also effective in, when this information comes in - officers firefighters, EMS - can get this information in real time."
The program also allows police, fire, and other public safety agencies to publish alerts such as traffic incidents, police activity, and HAZMAT warnings.
The city has a $15 million contract with InterAct to update all Computer Aided Dispatch systems and data storage systems.
"If I see a specific incident that I want to find on the map, I click on it on the list and have immediate visibility to that incident," said Vice President and General Manager Jim Wilson. "Think about the implications if there are traffic accidents on my way to work, if there is a HAZMAT accident over where my kids' soccer game is being played that afternoon - visibility into things that can matter to allow us to know things that we need to know to be safer."
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