M'Falls police get tech savvy

October 11, 2012, 9:00 pm by Alexandria Randolph

The Marble Falls Police Department is in the final stages of implementing its new social media networking system.

Marble Falls Police Capt. Glenn Hanson said that the department updated their Facebook and Twitter pages last week with links to Citizen Observer, a program that allows citizens to register for automatic updates and incident alerts via text or email messages. The new system also includes a new and improved anonymous tip form. The department is also working to set up iPhone and Android applications that will allow citizens to report tips from whenever and wherever.

"The best thing about the new system is that it is totally 100 percent anonymous,” Hanson said. "It assigns people a number for their IP address and as long as we’re conversing, that’s the number we see.”

The online tip form gives individuals complete anonymity- it does not require a phone number, email or name. Another advantage for tippers is that they have the opportunity to know which officer they are communicating with.

"They see our email, they know our name. They could call and ask to speak with a specific person directly,” Hanson said. "It’s completely open on our end. It’s like having our names on the cars- we become a person rather than just an officer.”

For more of this story see Friday's Highlander.