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Schenectady residents can report minor crimes online
SCHENECTADY — Schenectady residents no longer need to wait for police officers when they wake up to find a bicycle stolen from their front porch.
They can go to work and, at their convenience, file a report online about any minor crime. Anything from theft to graffiti can be reported, but police still want to talk to victims if they can identify a suspect or the crime is in progress.
Police began accepting online reports two months ago, and have already collected 90 reports, they said.
“They get what they need for their insurance and we get what we need for our crime statistics and tracking,” Assistant Chief Michael Seber said today.
Police officers will read each report and email a response when the report has been approved. And although these minor crimes often go unsolved, Seber said there’s still a chance that police will recover property or find vandals.
They will reorganize patrols if they get a sudden increase in crime reports from one area, he said.
“We can put more officers in the area, and hopefully stop another dozen crimes from happening,” he said.
As for stolen property, if the victim enters the serial number into the online reporting system, it will be sent to a national database for stolen goods.
Then there’s a chance police will find it, Seber said.
“We recover so much property,” he said. “We auction hundreds of bicycles a year that we cannot track back to their owner. Serial numbers go a long way.”
The reporting site can be found through the police department’s website, www.schenectadypd.com or by clicking HERE. The software was purchased using money from seized assets.
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