The Copperas Cove Police Department has started a new program to make it easier to help detectives solve crimes.
The program is called Cove Watch. It's been active for about two weeks, and about 300 people have already signed up for it, Sgt. Martin Ruiz said.
Here's how it works: when a burglary, robbery, or other crime occurs in Copperas Cove, the police department will send an alert through text or email. In return, Ruiz said they're hopeful residents who may have seen something will say something.
"We want to get the community more involved in helping us and to solving most of these crimes. A lot of people see things, and they don’t know who to talk to about it. It’s the perfect thing to do," Ruiz said.
The form officers use to sign residents up also includes a section where they can state whether they own a home video surveillance system and whether they would like to participate in the department's video surveillance partner program.
"If they see that there’s crime going on in their neighborhood, they can actually view it themselves, and they actually see and they can call us and say ‘Hey, we have video of the people going through cars,'" Ruiz said.
Copperas Cove resident Elbert Holmes hasn't signed up for the program just yet, but he's already shown interest.
"I think it’s a good program, getting the police department more engaged in the community with the people here and do our part and assist in the community to prevent crime in the area," Holmes said.
Holmes said although he does live in a good neighborhood, he and his neighbors still keep a watchful eye. He just recently installed a surveillance system with eight cameras.
"With the app on our phone, we’re able to view our camera systems with our phone or the desktop computers. A little extra security blanket for us to know that everything is safe here at home along with our security system at home," he said.
Holmes said he'd be more than willing to help detectives solve crimes, which is the feedback Ruiz said he's hearing the most.
“We want to communicate with the citizens of Copperas Cove and combine our forces together basically. They’re going to be so much of a big help," Ruiz said.
Stopping by the police department is the only way you can sign up for the program at the moment, Ruiz said. But if you see an officer in the street, you can ask him or her for a form.
They're hoping to have a sign-up feature online by October.
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