Calhoun County Sheriffs Dept. unveils new crime reporting app

Sheriff Larry Amerson

People who live in Calhoun County can now do more than just text crime reports to law enforcement.  The sheriff's office is the pilot site for a smart phone app called ICE Black Box.  ICE stands for In Case of Emergency, and the app is part of a Neighborhood Watch Now program from the National Sheriff's Association.  Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson announced the launch of the new program Thursday.  If someone sees something suspicious, that person can use their smart phone to record video to send to the sheriff.  Through the ICE Black Box app, the video goes straight to an online server.  "Inside the dispatch center there will be a map, it will show a location of the call, give the address coordinates of that call, so that law enforcement immediately knows who's calling and where they are. Calhoun County is the first test site for this program.  The app is free for citizens, and the county received the technology for free as the first of three test sites.  The Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Florence, Arizona, and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will also test the program.  While some people may see the service as an invasion of privacy, Amerson said there is nothing wrong with neighborhood watch programs trying to provide law enforcement with information.  The ICE Black Box app is available for download from iTunes or the Google Play store.