NCJ Number
171200
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 66 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1997) Pages: 20-25
Date Published
1997
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article describes the establishment and features of a police-citizen computerized bulletin board system (BBS) to facilitate the sharing of information between citizens and police.
Abstract
A BBS enables computer users to communicate with one another, share information, and access a common information center. Today, several law enforcement agencies throughout the country operate bulletin board systems. A basic bulletin board system for police-citizen use might contain an announcement area, one message conference area, and a few text files for users to read or download (transfer to their own computers). Some of the options that departments can provide through their bulletin boards include bulletins and announcements about crime warnings, upcoming events, or new services offered by the agency; file areas where users can access files to read online or download; a questionnaire/survey area for determining citizen satisfaction with police; online police reports that enable victims of minor incidents to file their own police reports; local message areas where citizens can contact employees of the police department; a nationwide network conference area; and Internet access. In addition to describing these features of a BBS, this article discusses hardware and software requirements, the maintenance and publicizing of the BBS, and controlling access.