By William Croyle
Enquirer Contributor

FLORENCE - If you commit a crime here, thousands of average citizens throughout the city and Northern Kentucky could be looking for you in just a matter of minutes.

The Florence Police Department has subscribed to the Internet-based crime prevention technology known as Citizen Observer. It allows police to send information about a crime to cell phones, pagers, e-mails and fax machines within a 50-mile radius.

Nearly 800 individuals, businesses and schools in the city and surrounding communities have signed up. It's paid for by sponsors, so it's free to citizens and the police.

"This can go directly to the people," said Florence Police Lt. Tim Chesser. "If a purse is stolen and the thief is planning to commit identity theft, we can get this to the businesses and they can put a stop to it."

CitizenObserver.com, based in St. Paul, Minn., launched Citizen Observer in 2001. There are 200 police departments in 16 states using the technology, including the Kentucky State Police and Louisville Police Department. The number of users is growing.

Company president Terry Halsch said Newport recently became the second Northern Kentucky city to register and he hopes to have Covington on board soon. Florence has been using it for a couple months.

"The system is a powerful connection between law enforcement and their constituents," said Halsch. "It can help in crimes from robbery all the way up to murder."

Here's how it works:

If a store is robbed, police gather information at the scene of the crime. They will take that back to their headquarters and transmit to subscribers up to 2,200 characters of information (about the length of a one-page fax) - which could include the time of the crime, a description of the suspect and the car he or she was driving.

Police will send the information only to those subscribers who they believe should know or could help. In this case, businesses and citizens would probably be notified. Schools may not.

Susan Castle, part-owner of Microtel in Florence, recently signed up and said it could be beneficial to her business.

"Identity theft happens a lot in hotels, and there have been a lot of robberies in hotels in the last year" said Castle. "It would help to be on alert."

Florence Police Sgt. Don Baker said the department is very careful with what it sends out. "We won't do it for a gas drive-off," he said. "We don't want to 'cry wolf' too often."

Baker said they've used it in a few crimes so far, including robberies at Target Stores and Fuddruckers Restaurant in the last six weeks, and in cases when children have been approached by strangers. He said they've probably sent out an average of two alerts a week.

"We haven't caught anybody yet with it, but we will," said Baker.

To sign up for the service, visit www.citizenobserver.com.

Fast facts

The Florence Police Department has subscribed to Citizen Observer, which allows police to send information about a crime to cell phones, pagers, e-mails and fax machines. Nearly 800 individuals, businesses and schools have signed up.

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Email williamcroyle@yahoo.com