REDMOND, OR -- There's a new way to report minor crimes in Redmond. Lt. Jesse Petersen says a new national online crime reporting tool is now available in Central Oregon. "It gives our community members an opportunity to report crime without having, necessarily, to talk to a police officer. They can do it online; we have a URL that dispatch can send out to them." A self-reporting kiosk is also available at the Redmond Police station on Deschutes Ave., for those without internet access. 

Once the online form is completed, the person receives a copy of a final report and a case number, "I think the benefit of this for the community is the opportunity for them to instantly make a report, and then, of course, within five business days, they're getting these reports back to them once they've been approved by our police department." Lt. Petersen says it should make it more convenient, "A lot of our community members are IT savvy, and a lot of them are very busy, and don't have much time to be able to report things to law enforcement, so this is an opportunity to go ahead and be able to report these other crimes to us that we probably miss just because we don't get the opportunity to hear it from them."

The online reporting tool is designed only for minor incidents, like property crimes, theft, and criminal mischief with damages less than $10,000, "If it's a minor accident, or a minor incident, or a small crime, where they need to report it for insurance purposes, they can do this online," Petersen tells KBND News. Emergencies should still be reported by calling 911.

There are often costs for some reports, up to $20; using the online system is free. Petersen says reports submitted online receive the same time and attention as more conventional reporting. Click HERE to access the reporting website.