City of Reno encourages online crime reporting as it flows into Crime Analysis

In the current economic climate, staff reductions to law enforcement agencies mean that officers are not responding to non-emergency crimes to file reports. Now it is the citizens' responsibility to go to the police department, or file a report with the Online Crime Reporting System that can be accessed through the city of Reno's website. Community Services Officer Craig Nielson says it's user friendly and will save you the time and hassle of visiting a police station to file a report. He says the Reno Police Department encourages citizens to go online because even if they do not have a suspect description or the confidence that the person could be caught, those reports still help the city with crime fighting.

"The information they provide us still is valuable because that flows into our crime analysis...it alerts us to what are the crime trends and what is going on out there," Nielson said. "Where...we need to use patrol and our attention." It is important to note that whether someone takes a crime report for you at the police station, or you go online, all the information goes to the same place, there is not a delay with the online option, and you do get a conformation and case number via e-mail. You can even check the status of your case on this same site. If investigators have questions, they will contact you directly. The website is located at www.reno.gov, then click on "I want to" at the top of the page, then from the drop down menu click on "report" and from the submenu select "Police Online Reporting System."