DEBRA JANDREAU The Daily Herald on Saturday, June 29, 2002

UTAH COUNTY -- Law enforcement officers will soon have a new mapping tool to help fight crime throughout Utah County.

The Utah County Crime Analysis Technology System (UCCATS) equipment was brought online Friday after almost two years of work.

"UCCATS gives us the capability to enhance our communication aspect, with respect to what type of criminal activity is occurring here in the county," Provo Police Chief Greg Cooper said.

Every agency in Utah County will literally have the ability to participate and monitor each others' activities, Cooper said.

UCCATS is a GIS mapping, technology sharing system provided by The Omega Group. Funding for the program came through a $100,000 grant from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, and a $30,000 match from all law enforcement agencies in Utah County. The largest contributors came from the Utah County Sheriff's Department, Orem Public Safety Department and the Provo Police Department.

According to Omega Group President Milan Mueller, the CrimeView program, as it is called, will be implemented in two parts. The first part is accessible through the Internet.

"The program enables multiple users at various locations to access secure crime-mapping information quickly," Mueller said.

"CrimeView Internet includes a number of query, report and mapping features through an interactive menu," said Patrick Demer with Omega Group.

Now watch commanders, patrol cars, traffic departments, satellite offices and any other authorized personnel can access current crime data by simply using their web browser, Mueller said.

The program provides incident patterns from the county right down to the individual streets in each community. It also maps repeat calls, identifies trouble spots, and predicts the expected range of crime activity in an area.

Once a query has been made, a corresponding text report and graph can be generated.

The second aspect to the CrimeView program is accessed through the desktop. It still provides the same type of query information, but in greater detail, Mueller said.

"What we have now is basically a more powerful tool to analyze the data," said Mike Farkas, Omega Group.

Mueller said officials are looking to provide the material to other agencies like school districts and neighborhood watch groups. A less intensive program is being developed for use by the public -- one that does not provide as detailed of information, so as not to compromise any police investigation.

In the past, detectives from several law enforcement agencies have had to gather to discuss crime in the communities. The UCCATS system will save a great deal of time, said Capt. Jim Tracy, Utah County sheriff.

The UCCATS system will be fully functional by the first of October.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.