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Public Safety

"eWatch" System Keeps Public Informed

San Diego County residents who want more information about crime in their neighborhood can soon register with a new service that updates them as crimes happen.

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The sheriff’s department will expand the service called “eWatch." It is funded by a $75,000 grant from Homeland Security, with the goal of getting the public more aware of neighborhood crime.

With the grant, the sheriff's department, partnered with the Automated Regional Justice Information System, will be able to expand the city of San Diego's current "eWatch" subscription service to the entire county.

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Pam Scanlon, head of ARJIS, said, “It’s very easy to use, you can just put in a cross street, an intersection, or an address, you pick your radius of how far you want your search to be, select your crime types and off you go.”

Scanlon said subscribers get an e-mail when a crime is committed in their area, and a link to a public crime map on the Web that has more information.

She says the next step is to make the service interactive, so the public can report suspicious activity.

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