By Eric Kuznar

A new smart phone application available for download is designed to help protect the people of Fishers.

Fishers Police Dept. Capt. Ed Gebhart and Auri Rahimzadeh, owner of Auri’s Ideas, partnered together to create Fishers CrimeWatch. According to Gebhart, the application was developed to aid the citizens of Fishers and its police force, but also to increase communication between the two parties.

“Departments have to find different ways to communicate with the people we protect,” Gebhart said. “The communication piece is pivotal.”

The application allows for citizens to communicate directly with police officers by sending real-time information, including pictures of an incident, as it occurs.

“So much of the technology is developed for after we arrive on scene,” Gebhart said. “I wanted to get the ball swinging in the other direction and arm our officers with the information they need before they step out of their vehicle.”

Gebhart sees potential for the application to eventually move out of Fishers and be adopted by more communities.

“Every agency could use this across the United States, there’s just nothing like it,” he said. “It is the first thing I am aware of that locks in community members with police officers on patrol.”

Rahimzadeh, a software engineer and app designer who met with Gebhart at Launch Fishers, handled most of the coding and technical aspects of building the application free of charge to the city.

“Ed came to me with a really cool idea of how do we connect the police with the community and report suspicious activity more quickly using modern technology?” Rahimzadeh said. “We sat down and made it happen.”

As a developer, Rahimzadeh sees the potential for growth in the application’s functions for both the community and law enforcement.

“We want to possibly add the ability to see all the incidents you reported and what the disposition was,” he said. “This becomes more valuable over time because we can see at a glance where all the hotspots are.”

Gebhart stressed that Fishers CrimeWatch is not a substitute for 911. A red bar across the top of the app can be tapped to dial 911 in case of an emergency.

Gebhart said other police officers, the community, city officials, Mayor Scott Fadness and Police Chief George Kehl all played a role in getting the application up and running.

Fishers CrimeWatch can be downloaded on the Apple iOS and Android app stores for free. Residents can provide feedback on the application at crimewatch.fishers.in.us.