The Boulder Police Department has debuted a new blotter that will post information about calls in the city.
Previously, a civilian Boulder police staff member read each shift’s reports, searched incidents and typed information onto the blotter, which police said took hours to compile.
The updated crime sweeper will share information and post each incident to a new Twitter account after reports have been reviewed and approved by a supervisor.
“I am extremely proud of this additional layer of transparency we have created to share more information with our community,” Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said in a statement. “It is in line with the goals outlined in our new Master Plan. This new digital crime sweeper was a direct result of our community members telling us they missed the old crime sweeper and wanted more information about public safety incidents in their neighborhoods.”
Added Boulder Chief Innovation and Technology Officer Jennifer Douglas in a statement, “Enhancing public safety and increasing government transparency are cornerstones of our efforts to further the city’s mission of service excellence for a future of inspired through technology.”
The new sweeper comes a year after a new crime panel and calls for service portals created by the department. Unlike the crime dashboard, the sweeper will provide a narrative for each event and only include reports of one crime.
The new blotter can be found at bouldercolorado.gov/crime-dashboard, while the blotter can be found at twitter.com/BPDBlotter.
Boulder police will maintain its main Twitter account, as the blotter account will not be monitored for responses.
