The St. Joseph Police Department is aiming to deter criminal activity with a newly developed online space for neighborhood watch programs. Law enforcement officers are collaborating with watch groups across the city of St.
Joseph to make neighborhoods safer. Through an application known as "Discord," community members apart of these groups can directly share information about suspicious activity happening in their neighborhood with police. “What we’ve done on the app is set up specific groups for our different neighborhood watch groups in town,” said Jeremy Peters, SJPD crime prevention officer.
“They can bring their members of their watch group onboard into the channel and they can share information directly to me at the police department and I can help get information out where it needs to go.” Through this program, officers are hoping to tackle growing concerns in the community with issues including vehicle theft, break-ins and drug use. “If there’s certain areas in town where you know there’s a suspected drug house or something similar, we want to know that,” Peters said.
“If it’s posted through the app, we will get it directly to the investigators who work with that crime specifically.” Police do not plan to monitor the app 24/7, but officers can view, post and respond to crime and safety related information posted on the app, the department said. “This isn't necessarily used for in-progress crimes or emergencies,” Peters said.
“If it is an .
