New app launched by Sheriff's Dept.

RODEO LAUNCH

That’s the largest gathering of people in our county so we thought it would be a good time to launch it. We can update people on traffic flows, parking and that kind of stuff and we wanted to try it out this week.”

Stacy Weber, Lee County Sheriff

LEE COUNTY – A new app released Wednesday out of the Lee County Sheriff’s office will put additional tools in the hands of county residents.
Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber said the Apple version of the new mobile app is available for download on Apple Play Store. The Android version has not yet been released, but Weber said he expects that to be released in the very near future.
“This new app has all kinds of immediate information,” Weber said.
“We were frustrated with people telling us they didn’t see this or that because either they hadn’t opened Facebook yet, or didn’t have Facebook. This is something they can download on their phone and have at their fingertips.
“This is a better form of mass communication.”
Weber said Capt. Craig Burch brought the idea to him several months ago after several meetings to fine tune the app, the sheriff’s department received confirmation Wednesday that the Apple version was now available.
The cost of the new app won’t be shouldered by taxpayers and Weber said it was minimal.
“We’re gonna pay for it out of commissary funds and that’s revenue from jail inmates who buy candy bars and stuff like that.”
The app will include information on sex offenders, list contact numbers for the sheriff, and even a notification for homeowners going on vacation.
“Some people are uncomfortable calling and asking us to check on their homes while they’re on vacation or gone. Now you can upload that information to us through the app and we’ll keep an eye on it for you,” Weber said.
“I can send notifications out for missing people, stolen vehicles, car accidents, weather updates, all the stuff that we’ve been piecemealing together all these years.”
He said the department set a goal of having at least one platform available to test during the Tri-State Rodeo because of the large number of people in attendance.
“That’s the largest gathering of people in our county so we thought it would be a good time to launch it. We can update people on traffic flows, parking, and that kind of stuff and we wanted to try it out this week.”
Weber said the department could add functionality to the app, but right now they wanted to get it out there to test to see what county residents think of the technology.
The app can be downloaded at https://apps.apple.com/app/id6667118299.