Cincinnati police are ready for residents and business owners to log on to www.citizenobserver.com and sign up for real-time alerts.

Logging in also gives anyone with a computer access to information on missing persons and wanted people, including a sketch of a man accused of raping a woman in Over-the-Rhine in September.

In the case of a Mount Washington bank robbery Oct. 6, police put the suspect's description on the Web site and - within minutes - an update that he'd been arrested.

"If there's been a bank robbery or a check fraud, we can immediately send out a notice to all the banks in the area," said Officer Eric Franz.

"Say cars were being broken into in Price Hill. We can send a message to all the people in Price Hill who have signed up."

Council members David Pepper and Laketa Cole praised the system. Both said they would actively encourage residents and business owners to sign up.

"I think the goal here is a great one," Pepper said, "which is to get people involved with the police."

Police hope to continue adding more uses to the system, Capt. Vincent Demasi said, including a way to send tips to the police about drug-dealing locations.

He also would like to make it a vehicle citizens can use to track court cases of people arrested in their neighborhoods.

Departments in 19 states now use the Web-site system, developed in 2000 in St. Paul, Minn.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com