North Carolina Sheriff's Office Enters New Age

Sheriff Mike Andrews has wasted no time in finding ways to improve and modernize the Durham County Sheriff's Office, particularly in getting information to the people the office serves.

May 17, 2012

2 min read

Sheriff Mike Andrews has wasted no time in finding ways to improve and modernize the Durham County Sheriff's Office, particularly in getting information to the people the office serves.

The office has worked on more modern ways of distributing information. You can find the Durham County Sheriff's Office on Facebook. There, the office has posted information about Peace Officers Memorial Day, which is today, including the history about how the day came to be. The Sheriff's Office also is asking people on its Facebook page to share great stories about law enforcement officers in honor of National Police Week, which is this week.

The sheriff has posted on the office's Facebook Wall, and constituents have posted questions and received answers. There's information on arrests and Most Wanted suspects.

It's a great way to interact with the people whom the Sheriff's Office serves.

The other recent technological addition is an online crime mapping program. Every 24 hours, the program, which began operating last week, updates information based on records from the Sheriff's Office. Residents can search by location, date range, type of crime and more.

The mapping program can be found at www.raidsonline.com.

Andrews said he sees the program as a help both to residents of the county and to law enforcement.

"The program's analytical and mapping capabilities will allow us to better target patrols and ultimately provide better customer service to the residents of the county," Andrews said. "RAIDS Online will also be extremely useful to Neighborhood Watch groups and individuals who wish to be aware of incidents around their homes."

Residents should take advantage of the program because it will help them know if there has been a rash of home break-ins or car break-ins in their neighborhood, for example, so they can take extra precautions.

We appreciate the sheriff looking for new ways to engage and inform residents. And we also appreciate the work that he and his staff do. Members of law enforcement have stressful jobs, dealing with people who often are at their worst. It's a dangerous business, often with too little thanks.

Take time this week to let those who serve and protect know that you appreciate the work they do, and recognize the sacrifices they are asked to make.