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The Sheriff's office sets up new eCAP alert service
Emails will notify residents of crimes in neighborhoods
By GEORGE MOORE
New technology has long been utilized in helping to solve crimes and is even more often used in crime prevention. Cupertino residents now have the option to receive community alert messages from the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office via email.
The virtual sheriff's blotter, called the Email Community Alert Program, or eCAP, will contain information on crime and emergency preparedness. The program is designed to raise community awareness, minimize crime opportunities and increase the possibility of solving crimes with the public's help, according to the city's website.
Sgt. Skip Shervington, community resources coordinator, said in the case of a crime alert, an email message containing the nature of the crime and the area it occurred would be sent. It would include the day, date and time of the crime, as well as descriptions of the methods used by the suspect(s).
Shervington said the alert would also describe the method of entry, in the case of a residential burglary, as well as what was taken. The message could also include a request for assistance in identifying suspects of vehicles that may have been associated with the crime. He also includes tips for prevention related to the specific crime.
"If a suspect is entering residences in a certain way, the message will include ways to help prevent it from happening again or to other residents," he said.
Shervington said he has been testing the program for a couple of months. He said he began by emailing 100 neighborhood watch group members alert information, and the number of people receiving them has now grown to about 450 just through word of mouth.
Shervington said he reviews all sheriffs' reports on a daily basis to find out what is going on in the community. He said the main focus is on property crimes and violent crimes and he sends that information to residents within the area that the crime has occurred. Group emails are divided into predetermined beat areas, according to the website. If patterns or trends are recognized in a series of crimes, that information will also be emailed to participants within the beat areas.
Shervington said the program is set up as a one-way source of information from the city to its residents, but they have the option of replying to any of the emails. Replies and tips will be reviewed by Shervington and forwarded to the proper detectives.
Residents can register their email addresses at Neighborhood Watch meetings or log on to the city of Cupertino's eCAP online registration.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
