RAIDS Online Allows residents to search by neighborhood, offense, date, to see patterns and details of community crime
View timely criminal activity in Anderson Township, or other communities, through the free online program RAIDS Online. Recently added as a resource by Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office District 5, the RAIDS Online program allows residents to easily search for crime information and view nearby offense activity broken into specific criminal categories.
Cpl. Dave Boiman of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office District 5 notes that Anderson Township’s District 5 substation is the first substation to embrace the new technology in the Sheriff’s Office. “We’ve had a lot of residents and businesses ask us about doing crime mapping,” Boiman said. Boiman learned about the program at a training conference and saw the value of it for the whole community.
“With RAIDS Online, we’ve found a free, useful tool that benefits residents, businesses, officers and administrative supervisors.” Through data supplied by public crime maps, patrol officers on their beats can better pinpoint township “hotspots” and increase their patrol efforts to engage the problem, he said.
Another benefit of the program is the connection created between law enforcement and the community which can result in reduced crime and improved public safety. Crime mapping helps the public get a better idea of the crime activity in their area so they can make more informed decisions about how to stay safe, Boiman said.
“RAIDS Online is a tool to empower the public,” Boiman said. It allows citizens to make better decisions about crime “by putting technology already used by law enforcement for analyzation and crime activity interpretation into the hands of the public,” Boiman said.
The program can be accessed at RAIDS Online, or through AndersonTownship.org (under the Sheriff’s Department) or by clicking www.raidsonline.com. Information is submitted by District 5 twice a month and is broken down by offense, date, time, address and synopsis. Many common criminal offenses are listed, such as burglary, alcohol and drug offenses, theft from motor vehicles and more. Users can also view locations of convicted sex offenders supplied to RAIDS Online by Watch Systems. Additional information includes listings of assault, theft, fraud, vandalism and curfew violations.
Boiman noted that RAIDS Online also has a mobile app available for the public’s convenience. Additionally, users can submit information anonymously through the Greater Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky Crime Stoppers program.