SafeLink gives crime news via email

www.gvnews.com

Residents looking for information on public safety issues in their community need look no further than their e-mail.

SafeLink, a service from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, sends ZIP Code-specific information on a variety of safety issues. Pima County residents can register at www.pimacountysheriff.org.

The service addresses internet scams, registered sex offenders moving to the area, locations of photo radar enforcement and DUI checkpoints, as well as community activities and public services offered by the department, such as free document shredding.

Most of the e-mails go out to everyone while others target residents in specific communities, said Lt. Sandy Rosenthal, who heads the department’s Green Valley station.

“For the purposes of our community, this will really help our winter residents keep informed of what’s going while they’re away,” he said.

Rosenthal said had this feature been widely used last summer, when more than 40 Green Valley homes were burglarized, some of those break-ins might have been prevented.

“If some of the snowbirds had known about the burglaries going on,” they might have taken more precaution in securing their homes, he said.

Rosenthal says the SafeLink program, which launched in June, is growing and becoming a more active tool to connect with the public.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726