Police unveil new Web site

MUSCLE SHOALS - After almost five months of development, Muscle Shoals police Lt. Clint Reck learned that building and launching a Web site wasn't something that would take place overnight.

The process required time in the office on weekends, interviews with other officers about what they thought would be helpful and lots of Internet research into what other police departments were doing to open their virtual doors to the community.

"It's information we want to get out so people can see how we operate and see what we do other than write tickets and put people in jail," Reck said. "We do a lot of community policing and community service, and this lets the public see who is who and put a name with the face."

For years, the police department has been a link on the city's Web site, offering limited information about the staff and its services. With the new site up and running, Muscle Shoals joins Florence and Sheffield as three Shoals police agencies with dedicated pages on the Internet.

The Web site also links to other sites and services that should prove helpful, including one that allows accident victims access to blank reports to fill out, e-mail addresses of everyone in the department and contact information for the Colbert County Animal Shelter.

Reck said an extra patrol request page allows Muscle Shoals residents and business owners to request extra patrols at their homes, businesses or neighborhoods if, for instance, they plan on being out of town.

"With this, people can communicate with us directly because when they make this request, it goes to all the supervisors in the department, and it generates a response to the person who made the request," Reck said. "That ensures it will get done."

There also is a link to individuals with arrest warrants, which will be kept current by Brandon Brown, administrative clerk for the department. He and Muscle Shoals resident Ray Mahan assisted Reck in developing the site.

"I go through warrants every day anyway to get them out of the system after they've been picked up," Brown said. "I will also be updating our local crime stats periodically and keeping that updated as they come in."

The crime statistics button on the home page will send visitors to a page listing the number of assaults, break-ins or other crimes within city limits.

Brown said registering on the site will allow users to get real-time police information via e-mail or text.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the site is the individual contact information for each employee in the department, Reck said, even though it took a little convincing to get everyone to agree on the need to be contacted.

"We did debate putting ourselves out there, but we're hoping to build relationships with the public so that they might feel comfortable e-mailing us when they're not comfortable calling us," he said.

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.