Features added to Sheriff’s Office website

Published 3:17 pm Friday, April 4, 2014

By Lucy Parker

The Daily News

The Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office is working to get the word out to the public about its revamped website and some additional features that are on the way.

Deputy Anthony Jones, information technology director, said the web address is still the same, wpsoweb.com, but the site has a new look and is more dynamic than the previous one.

The site was created by Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing, Inc., and Jones helped with inputting information and putting in the necessary interfaces.

Among other features, the new site includes an online inmate roster, which allows citizens to see all of the current inmates and those who have been released within the past 48 hours, Jones said.

Visitors to the site can also view a list of “Most Wanted” suspects. When the suspects are taken into custody, the word arrested is placed across their photo.

The site gives citizens the opportunity to submit crime tips anonymously through the Crime Tip Hotline, and there is also a link to the Louisiana State Police sex offenders search.

Jones said Sheriff’s Office press releases are now available on the site, and that type of information is generally posted to the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page as well.

Other things available on the site include contact information for the various divisions and a history of the Sheriff’s Office.

One of the newer and most important features on the website is the opportunity to sign up for alerts, Jones said. By clicking on the link at the top right of the page, people will have the option to sign up for SMS text messages or email alerts.

Citizens can choose from various alerts, such as an inmate roster, sent out each day at 6:30 a.m.; an e-newsletter; press releases; hot cases; and several other options.

Something Jones hopes to see added soon is an emergency notification feature. With that, any emergency information that the Sheriff’s Office thinks the public needs to know immediately for their safety — such as an alert about hazardous weather conditions — will be sent out.

He said any citizen with has signed up for any update on the site would receive the emergency notification.

Additionally, by clicking on the “pay fines online” link under the Divisions tab on wpsoweb.com, people can pay any citations they may have. The office is also working to add a feature that would allow people to pay their taxes online, Jones said.

The Sheriff’s Office is also looking at adding a warrant module, which would allow citizens to search through the WPSO’s current active warrants, Jones said.

Citizens can now access and purchase Sheriff’s Office accident reports online at http://washingtonpsola.policereports.us, and he said a link to service is coming to the WPSO site as well.

Jones said the webpage is already a one-stop shop for most of the things the Sheriff’s Office does, and the addition of the new features will bring the site full circle.