Bienvenido. Tere tulemast. Karibu Idara. Witamy.
Pima County Sheriff DUI unit/Ryn Gargulinski file photo
Those are just a few of the 50-plus ways the Pima County Sheriff’s Department now welcomes us onto its website.
Those of you who like playing around on websites – or have to report a crime or get other info from the sheriff’s department – should definitely give this site a whirl.
The sheriff’s department recently revamped the site to include translations into an impressive array of different languages.
I’m partial to the French, although I also find the Swahili fun.
Of course, the most useful translation around the county will be Spanish, with a prominent button on the top right of the homepage that lets us switch easily from Welcome to Bienvenido. Select other languages through a drop-down menu on the lower right of the homepage.
Yes, I still think English should be made our country’s official language and encourage all who live here to learn to use it.
But I can also see how these translations will be incredibly helpful to the department and the general public.
Now the sheriff’s office doesn’t have to scramble to find deputies and other employees who know Greek, Icelandic, Polish, Norwegian and both traditional and simplified Chinese.
Website visitors can benefit by practicing their own foreign language skills as well as taking advantage of some of the site’s useful features:
Planning a picnic out in the county? Wondering how many folks were killed on East Camino Lomas? Crime mapping lets us enter a location that is outside city limits but inside the county lines to see how much crime went down in the area during a given time frame. We can also check out where registered sex offenders are living.
Online crime reporting
This feature is a real blessing to both the general public and the department. Now we don’t have to go stand in line or wait around to fill out paperwork to report a crime. We can do it from the comfort of our own home while clad in our pajamas and fuzzy slippers.
Nixle
Nixle lets us sign up to receive text messages or e-mails directly from the department, including Amber Alerts, road closure, missing persons info and all types of other interesting and useful stuff.
Perhaps the best thing about Nixle is that its name translates into “Nixle,” keeping confusion at a minimum.
Other fun features:
Inmate Lookup
No, I don’t use this feature to troll for future dates. Rather, it is quite handy for research to make sure someone is still in jail and to check how much bond he or she needs to get out.
Careers
Gotta love the energetic, compelling video in this section. It’s better than some crime shows I’ve seen. It would also make even the laziest of couch potatoes want to get up and fight county crime.
Please note: Another interesting and useful site to visit is that of the Tucson Police Department. Tucson crime statistics is definitely my favorite feature there.
[tnipoll]
Photo Ryn Gargulinski
What do you think?
Do you regularly visit the police or sheriff websites? Why?
Did you know the sheriff’s site had such fun and useful features?
What features do you like or find useful?
What other features could the sites use?
What’s your favorite local website?
I check out crime maps almost daily, plus ever since my kids were little I would get notifications of new sex offenders in my area.
Good stuff and interesting
i am a big fan of the stats myself – but, yes, crime maps are also fun. glad you already know about all the different features available, esp ones that will help protect your kids. …and now you can check them out in portugese! hahah.
‘drugged tainted’ Ahm freakin’ out on these captchas Rynski! 🙂
Glad the Sheriffs dept has the resources to keep those of us with a hyphenated heritage or no inclination to English, up to speed on the latest capers. It’ll come in handy the next time they claim they don’t have the manpower. 😉