Police departments around the globe are now armed with a new tool to help them and the communities they serve stay informed and stay safer in a world that seems ever more dangerous. Mattapoisett’s Police Department recently announced the introduction of a mobile application with features to help our residents, as well as an updated new website.
Some of the features the new app includes are department contact information, public notifications, feedback and tips forms, as well as options to retrieve information from FEMA, the National Weather Service and the National Terror Advisory System. Other uses include links for wanted persons, sex offenders and blog postings. The phone application can be downloaded for free. Go to My Police Department or MyPD in the iPhone or Android marketplace. Once downloaded, you simply navigate to the Mattapoisett Police. The app will work on iPhone and Android devices.
Chief Lyons’ official public announcement stated, “This police app is a great addition to our agency … We can now push out notifications and alerts, and the public has a variety of ways to contacts us. The goal of our MyPD app is to give our public a one-stop app option with plenty of features and to open the lines of communication.”
Users can choose not only the Mattapoisett Policeapp but they also have the option to view other police departments on MyPD by choosing a different city or state. The app defaults to the last agency viewed when first opened; this makes it easy to open just the Mattapoisett Police Department information.
The department home screen contains a number of features with more located in the bottom menu that activates upon touch or swipe.
Lyons also stated, “Our app’s crime tips or questions and feedback features allow a user to choose a topic from the form’s dropdown menu that best suits them, and that message will then be routed to the correct officer … Forms can be sent anonymously to the department, but we encourage an email address or phone number if you would like a response. Users also have the availability to upload photos with the app tip and feedback forms.”
The app is not intended to take the place of using 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency. Always use 9-1-1 when reporting a crime or to get immediate assistance. With kids back in school and nearly all who are old enough using mobile cell phones, having this tool on their phones may prove helpful to them, as well. The kids may even be able to help the parents upload the app to their phones.
More app information can be found on the Mattapoisett Police Department’s newly updated website at www.mattapoisettpolice.com and the MyPD police app website at www.MyPDapp.com, or by going to the app store on your mobile device.
By Marilou Newell
