S.B. police accepting crime reports online
Department becomes first in Middlesex County to use such a system
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Is someone calling you only to breathe heavily into the receiver? Was your credit-card number stolen? Did you drop your cell phone somewhere but can't remember where? For these and other nonviolent incidents, residents can now inform the township police department over the Internet.

Township police announced a new online crime reporting system on Tuesday, which allows people to notify authorities of nonviolent crimes in South Brunswick. Six months in the making, it is the first system of its kind in Middlesex County. Under the new system, people can go to www.sbpdnj.net and lodge complaints about thefts, vandalism, car burglaries, lost property, harassing phone calls, financial crimes and other offenses.

"The goal is to give people greater convenience and access when filing a police report," said Capt. Patrick Owens, the project coordinator for the new system.

Once a person has decided to use the online reporting, there are detailed instructions provided. A series of check boxes and short narrative are required. After the person clicks "submit report," the report is printed out in the dispatch center. A supervisor will then review the complaint to determine if it is authentic. The supervisor will have a case number assigned to it, and it will follow the same course of investigation as any other report.

The new system is being touted by police as a time-saver for officers, as the department handles many cases of lost property and vandalism each year. In the first six months of this year alone, South Brunswick police have handled 120 reports involving lost items, which include cell phones, wallets, license plates, driver's license and Social Security cards. In addition there have been 144 incidents of vandalism.

"If we can make reporting incidents easier and free up officers in the process, we will be better able to serve the community," Owens said.