Imagine driving home from work and noticing a pothole in the street. There’s no way to immediately alert the public works department — it’s 6 p.m. and city hall closed at 5:30 p.m. Or, in another situation, imagine having a tip for the police department, but not feeling comfortable calling 911 about it.
For those in Camden or Marion — or several other municipalities around the state — a mobile device app can help in these cases. Camden launched Connect Camden SC, a mobile resident engagement app powered by GOGov in February. The Marion Police Department’s new app, meanwhile, allows residents to be informed about emergency situations or submit tips to help solve crimes.
“City staff can only find so many potholes and can only find so many tree limbs. This empowers people in the community to make sure the city staff is aware of a street light that’s out or a pile of yard debris that needs to be picked up,” said Kat Spadacenta, Camden’s Main Street program manager, who is also involved with the app’s operation.
Spadacenta stressed that the app is for non-emergency requests, not for urgent response service needs from police or fire departments. The app was spearheaded by Camden City Manager Jonathan Rorie along with staff and department heads in offices like public works, who recognized there was a gap in reporting concerns or receiving services when city hall was closed, she said.
The city works on a 10-day window to get to every service request, but some of the larger needs are not completed that quickly.
“Some [issues] are bigger than citizens may actually realize, or some of the issues may be a little more complicated, like a sidewalk repair. That’s not something where we can get out there the next day and pour 200 or 300 square feet of concrete,” Spadacenta said.
But the app does get the information to the appropriate staff — and residents receive a response if they download and register their email address on the Connect Camden SC app. Residents can submit requests while logged in to receive an acknowledgment and allow city staff to follow up with any questions. Once staff completes the service, the reporter gets a notification. App users can also report issues anonymously without providing an email address or name.
Through the app, the city can send push notifications to registered users to notify them of issues like a power outage or a sewer line break that closes a road.
The city has shared information about the new app with the business community, residents, civic organizations and real estate agents, and the city website directs residents on how to download the free app.
“The more people who download the app, the better way of communicating with the public the app will be,” Spadacenta said.
The kinds of requests that users can make are divided by topic, with crew chiefs in various departments alerted through the app and by email when a request comes in. Those alerts also go to an assistant city manager and Spadacenta, who regularly check in to see if concerns have been received, addressed and closed out in a timely manner. So far, the results have been positive, she said.
“Citizens appreciate that it’s one more communication tool that they have. While not everybody would say we are getting to them as quickly as they’d like, we are able to plan better when we see multiple requests of the same nature come in, add them to the schedule and be able to address them as a group as opposed to running all around town,” she said. “It allows us as staff to be more efficient in handling service requests.”
In Marion, Police Chief Tony Flowers said the idea for a police department app started with input from members of crime watch teams who wanted to be alerted to important events in the city. Flowers considered phone alert services, but decided an app would allow the department to do more than simply push out alerts.
The police department app, created through StackBench, can be personalized by both the department and the public. The department can send encrypted information to officers, staff and teams. It also gives residents an easy way to contact the department, and provides links that connect the public with other resources they may need — the SC Department of Social Services, SC Law Enforcement Division, the SC Department of Motor Vehicles and others.
“We also have a tab for crime trends that lets the community know what type of calls our officers are responding to monthly as well as arrests made, warrants issued and traffic citations issued. We also provide a yearly total of the information,” Flowers said. “There is a ‘Most Wanted’ tab which provides a photo, name and charges for someone that is currently wanted by the Marion Police Department.”
The department developed the app to improve its communication with the public.
“The app allows us to keep the public aware of what is happening in real time and it is another way they can communicate with us without us coming to their residence, as some people are hesitant about talking to us for fear of harassment or retaliation from individuals who may see them, especially in high-crime areas,” Flowers said.
Residents can submit tips to the police department anonymously, or they can include their name, phone number and address so the department can follow up.
Flowers said the police department has four administrators who can send out notifications of things like road closures and traffic accidents that may affect traffic. The app is monitored continuously, and any time someone sends in a tip, the group is alerted through the app on the phone and by email.
“We have only had the app up and running since the end of January, and have received several tips from citizens that have assisted our officers in solving cases,” he said.
The cities agree that the use of apps as a way for cities and their residents to communicate is likely to grow more common.
“This is probably a lot easier, and in some ways more comfortable, for some of our citizens to utilize rather than make the phone call to city hall,” Camden’s Spadacenta said. “We know a portion of our population does prefer to get on the phone and talk to somebody. We have not taken this tool and substituted it for any other. We’ve added it to what we already were doing.”