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Kendall County Sheriff's Office approved for purchase, Dec. 1 rollout of 'The Sheriff App'

Users will be able to submit tips, photos, videos and GPS location of local crime directly to sheriff's office

The Kendall County Board has approved the purchase of a crime and emergency reporting mobile phone application by the county sheriff's office.

With a launch date set for Dec. 1, "The Sheriff App" will let Kendall County users submit tips, photos, videos and GPS location of local crime directly to the authorities. The customiziable application also sends users push notifications of nearby emergencies and allows them to send money to inmates for use in the commissary of the county jail.

"It's something we feel that we can use more broadly throughout the county to get more information out that may come from another source in the county other than our office," Undersheriff Bobby Richardson told the board.

In a unanimous vote, the board approved spending $23,980 for initial costs of "The Sheriff App." The three-year agreement with the app's creator, Alabama-based software company OCV, LLC, is projected to have annual maintenance costs of $8,990.

"At the end of the day we have a three-year time period where we can roll it out, use it, see how it works, re-evaluate and move on from there," said board member Audra Hendrix. "We've reached a point where we need to have more effective and complete communication with the community."

On its website, OCV, LLC describes itself as "one of the leaders in mobile app development for law enforcement, public safety,
emergency management and public health agencies for over nine years."

Law enforcement testimonials on its website laud "The Sheriff App" as a "must" for local authorities in the information age - and the app is used by over 60 sheriff's departments across the United States, according to its website.

Addressing the county board, Undersheriff Richardson cited the use of the app by the sheriff's department in Monroe County, Florida. Home to the Everglades, Key West and only 73,000 residents, the app was reportedly downloaded more than 32,000 times, Richardson said.

"They feel it pushes out information way faster than it would if it was going to be on another social media platform," he noted.

Though the Sheriff's Office does not have current goals for local downloads of the app, Richardson said the office hopes to have downloads on par with its current Facebook likes, which total about 19,000. Moderators will also prevent abuse and misinformation on the app, Richardson added.

County board members cited a recent manhunt and brushfires as public emergencies that could benefit from the app's notification system.

"Most people didn't even understand there was a fire going on there - and we mentioned this app as part of a discussion of being able to link in and warn people," said county board member Matt Kellogg. "Most of these fires started across the state from people burning brush and nobody knew it was an issue that day."