App promotes communication between citizens, local police
Thanks to the Bartlesville Police Department’s newly launched “MyPD” app, citizens can now be directly notified of alerts and emergency situations, and can easily send in crime tips and other information.
The app, which is available for both Android and iPhone users, makes communicating with police easier than ever, according to Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles.
“When you’re out in your neighborhood or around the city, a person who has this app can click on a button and send in information on anything suspicious or crime related, or even pertaining to minor issues, such as parking issues,” said Roles.
The City of Bartlesville will promote the app on social media, City websites and with stickers and download cards. More than 500,000 people have downloaded the app nationwide. MyPD serves approximately 200 cities and towns of various sizes around the U.S.
“Citizens can take a picture of any issue and send it in,” said Capt. Rocky Bevard. “The message goes right to our personnel so they can follow up on it. It is the same thing as calling a tip line or sending an email, but it offers extra features.”
Bevard stresses the app is not to be used in emergencies, however.
“It is not for emergencies,” he said. “9-1-1 should be used for anything needing urgent attention.”
The app also allows police to send alerts to citizens.
“If there’s a weather issue or a major road closure, we’ll use our MyPD app to push the information out,” said Bevard.
MyPD includes resources and links on a number of topics, including domestic violence, missing children and drug assistance resources. While the app links to some social media, police say it is not another social network. It is a tool and community resource for residents’ smartphones. Police are also expecting to roll out an updated version of the app later this year.
“There will be extra features and a new design,” Bevard said. “Current users will be notified to update in their app store. We ask that citizens using the app have patience with some of the inner-workings since this is a new technology for us. There will be some issues to work through and have addressed in future updates to the app. We have been working on some of the bugs, if you will, for a couple of months and testing the app’s features. We ask that citizens give us feedback on what can be done to improve upon the experience the app provides.”
MyPD is free for residents and contains no advertising. Users do not need to share personal information or set up an account to use the app. Any information sharing is optional.
Citizens looking to connect with the Bartlesville police should search for MyPD in their app store. Once the app is downloaded and the agency is chosen, it will always open to the Bartlesville Police Department and its resources.
For additional information about the My Police Department app users can visit: www.cityofbartlesville.org or MyPDapp.com Users can download the police app in your app store by searching “MyPD.”