The Wellesley Police Department, fresh off launching a Facebook page, has now begun offering a free smartphone app dubbed “MyPD” for the Apple iPhone and Android phones.
The app will provide a direct link to the department’s Tweets, website and Facebook account. What’s more, it enables GPS-powered directions to the Wellesley Police Department and an automated phone link to the WPD. MyPD will also let users send along tips and feedback to the department and even alert WPD when a home will be vacant.
MyPD was developed by WiredBlue, a company started by Peabody police detective Peter Olson, and Wellesley is among the beta customers of the app, which is starting to spread nationwide. Wellesley Sgt. Scott Whittemore says MyPD is the first such police app he knows about. Upon downloading the app from the App Store or Android Market, you choose which police department you want to sync up with.
The Wellesley Police Department has aggressively been pursuing social media and other online outlets to keep the public informed of emergency and other issues and town, and as a general way to put more of a public face on the department through photos and interactive options. As for the new app, “the whole project started because Chief Cunningham wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could to be available to the public through all means,” Whittemore says.
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