(TNS) -- The Pierce County Sheriff's Department, which maintains social media accounts and a website, is paying nearly $50,000 in an effort to more directly reach people.
In June, the department announced the launch of a free mobile app intended to "serve as an innovative way for us to connect with residents, businesses, and visitors, providing information quickly and efficiently to anyone with a smartphone," it said at the time.
"The thing I think the sheriff liked about it is, it's a way to keep people connected to the department," Sheriff's Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said in a recent interview. "The people that are subscribing to it can get more notifications from us directly."
Although it hadn't been publicized until lately, the app was actually rolled out last year. As of Oct. 15, it had been downloaded by 2,312 Apple users and 1,408 Android consumers, according to Moss.
Under a two-year contract with developer, TheSheriffApp.com, the app cost the department $48,980, including for startup and service, Moss said.
People can access information available on the department's website through the app, such as news, the county jail's inmate roster, a sex-offender search tool and animal-control services, according to the department's launch announcement. The app is also intended to streamline processes, including submitting tips, reporting a crime and requesting a police report.
If users have notifications turned on, the department will send alerts through the app that notify users of police activity, traffic issues and severe weather warnings.
Moss said there were 3,700 app users subscribed to the so-called push alerts and that notifications had generated 27,000 hits over the past three months.
The app was developed by TheSheriffApp.com, which specializes in custom apps for sheriff's offices and other public-safety agencies across the United States. TheSheriffApp.com, a brand of OCV, LLC , has roughly 550 clients nationwide and three other customers in Washington state: Adams County Sheriff and Emergency Management, and Moses Lake and Lynwood police departments, according to OCV marketing manager Victoria Moore.
"The sheriff really wanted to try something different, hoping this would continue to grow and expand," Moss said, noting that the app had allowed the department to become a news source. "We don't have a lot of human-interest pieces, but we have a lot of crime to report on."
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