2013 NASCIO Recognition Awards. Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Line App (ios and Android)

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1 2013 NASCIO Recognition Awards Title: Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Line App (ios and Android) Category: Digital Government: Government to Citizen (G to C) Contact: Greg Hughes Director, Government Information Center (GIC) Delaware Department of State (o) (f) DE Public Archives Bldg, 121 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd North Dover, DE Project Dates: Android: 12/04/2012 to 02/27/2013 ios: 12/04/2012to 03/05/2013 1

2 Executive Summary The Delaware State Police (DSP) free Tip Line mobile app, available for ios and Android devices, provides a mobile solution for accepting crime tips, allowing users to report information such as location, activity description, subject description, vehicle description, and photographs to the police Tips can be submitted anonymously All crime tips are passed directly to the DSP via to preapproved recipients The Delaware State Police (DSP) receives crime tips from various sources: , a tollfree hotline, and an online submission through its website The new mobile app complements the other channels already available to submit crime tips and meets the citizen expectation to have mobile access anytime, anywhere The objective of this project was to provide a mobile application with which anyone can submit a crime tip at any time and have it be passed directly to the DSP team The enhanced service benefits obtained include: 1 Meeting Governor Jack Markell s egovernment directive for enhanced citizen access to government by providing a new free, mobile channel to submit crime tips 2 Reinforcing the State Police brand with Delawareans and driving adoption by utilizing the familiar Crimestoppers campaign 3 Appealing to as wide a user base as possible by developing the app for both ios and Android platforms 4 Benefiting the sponsoring agency (DSP) by providing implementation and hosting services at no cost 5 Avoiding any increase in agency staff s workload by leveraging the same business processes in place to manage tips through traditional channels 6 Taking advantage of the ever-increasing use of mobile devices to support the law enforcement mission to protect public safety 2

3 Description of the Business Problem and Solution The new Crime Tip App addresses the following business problems: 1 Supplementing traditional channels with a mobile solution for submitting and accepting anti-terrorism tip, thus responding to Delaware Governor Markell s directive for enhanced citizen access 2 Increasing citizen involvement by removing barriers to interacting with law enforcement and providing valuable tips that could enhance public safety by: a Developing the app for both ios and Android platforms b Utilizing the familiar Crimestoppers campaign to drive adoption 3 Meeting the challenge of many state agencies having little or no budget for application development by forming a collaborative public-private partnership between the State of Delaware/Government Information Center and Delaware Interactive, LLC, a subsidiary of NIC USA, to grow egovernment services holistically as part of a statewide program 4 Meeting the challenge of lack of staff resources in many agencies by leveraging the same business processes in place to manage incoming crime tips from traditional channels Technical Solution: The system was developed with PhoneGap, a free and open source framework that enables the implementation of mobile apps using standardized platforms like ios and Android The app takes advantage of native smart phone functionality allowing the user to either take a photo or select an existing one from a photo stream or library and attach it to the tip A user s device-generated geo-location can be used to identify the location of the crime Or a user may manually add an address if automatic geo-location is not applicable Date can be submitted automatically or can be edited by the user Reports can be made anonymously or a user may provide his/her name and contact information The app is designed to let users enter detailed information about suspected crimes, though this information is not required The user may enter suspect information for up to two subjects, including: Name Race Height Weight Gender Age Eye Color Glasses Hair Color Hair Length 3

4 Hair Style Clothing Scars, Marks, Tattoos Address, City, State Weapons Dogs or Animals Associates Employment Info Hangouts: o Last Location o Date The user may also enter information for up to two vehicles: Make Model Color Year Number of Doors Registration State Tag Number Other Vehicle Information The user may select from a drop-down menu of different offenses: Assault Burglary Criminal Mischief Drugs Homicide Robbery Theft Wanted Person Other Once the user has completed the information associated with a suspicious activity, he/she may submit At that point, an is generated which sends the information to authorized law enforcement personnel for review No data is stored on Delaware Interactive servers Metrics: The Tip Line app is available to the public for free download onto their mobile and tablet devices According to Internet World Stats Usage and Population Statistics ( 80 percent of the population in Delaware have access to the Internet as of 2010 and are eligible to access the Crime 4

5 Tip Line As of 05/22/2013 there had been a total of 594 downloads of the app (ios and Android versions combined) Significance to the Improvements of the Operation of Government The new system facilitates interaction between Delawareans and the Delaware State Police (DSP), increasing the amount of crime tips received as well as fostering citizen engagement The innovative Crime Tim application pursues a mobile-first implementation strategy, requiring a paradigm shift away from developing for mouse cursors and near unlimited bandwidth to fingers operating a touch screen user interface, supporting multiple platforms to reach as many users as possible, and being mindful of limited bandwidth by lowering file weight Mobile apps also take advantage of web browsers that support HTML5 and CSS3 to take advantage of new features available in W3C specifications for a better user experience Mobile app development like the Crime Tip Line app meets these shifting requirements successfully The look and feel of the application is consistent with the new design of the official Delaware State Portal (wwwdelawaregov); it employs the strategic use of empty space and user-intuitive navigation resulting in a clean, uncluttered look for both the ios and Android platforms Benefits of the Project (Financial and Non-Financial) The Delaware Mobile Crime Tip Line app was conceived, designed and implemented as part of a collaborative public-private partnership between the State of Delaware Government Information Center and Delaware Interactive, LLC, a subsidiary of NIC USA The Delaware State Police did not have to expend funding for development of the new app; rather, this app is part of a greater effort to systematically grow the Delaware egovernment service portfolio, a State strategic goal Instead of piece-mealing application development to grow the portfolio with the help of many third-party vendors on a time and materials basis, the partnership between the State and Delaware Interactive has been formed for the express purpose to work steadily and collaboratively as one team; state funding supports the partnership and sponsors the development of egovernment in a holistic manner, anticipating increased savings for the State proportional to the increasing number of services, like the Delaware Mobile Crime Tip Line app The economic benefit is largely realized in cost savings for the Agency (the DSP) and the growth of the egovernment services portfolio available to Delaware citizens and businesses through NIC s self-funded model: 5

6 No RFP and procurement process required for the agency under the master contract which defines the public-private partnership between the State of Delaware and Delaware Interactive, LLC, a subsidiary of NIC USA, Inc The implementation, maintenance (application enhancement and support) and hosting costs are covered through the same master contract DI/NIC provide also: o Security and Compliance o Service Desk and Training o Marketing & Press releases o Quicker Time to Market o National Experience and Expertise The application is provided free of charge to Delawareans, businesses, and visitors To recap the non-financial benefits: The DSP Crime Tip Line app provides a free, easyto-use, and convenient mobile solution for reportingsuspicious activity anywhere in the state of Delaware, supporting the mission of law enforcement to keep Delawareans safe 6