The Web site, called the Sheriff's Town Advisory Reporting System (STARS), is a project the sheriff's department came up with as a way of opening better communication between the towns and the department.
In the past, towns contracting with the sheriff would get a bill mailed to them with statistical information lumping together how many tickets were written and how many other calls but very little detail about what happened when the deputies were in the town.
This system also only told towns when the deputies were there for time that they were billed for. Any time deputies responded for something the town wouldn't be billed for or were there as part of a grant, the towns did not hear about it.
Some towns had complaints that the deputies were not there at an important time or not patrolling a trouble area. Clark hopes this system will eliminate this by giving towns up-to-the-minute details.
There were a lot of "dribblings" from residents that they weren't seeing a sheriff presence in town with the old setup,
Townshend Selectboard Chairman Kit Martin said."A lot of what we're doing here is selling ourselves. We've quietly done things for the towns, it's time to tell them," Clark said.
The program had its test run with Westminster before it was released to the other towns this week and next week.
"We've had nothing but positive feedback from Westminster," Sheriff Keith Clark said.
Clark hopes this will help all 10 towns he has contracts with and the department. The site can also be tweaked according to most of the wishes of the town, Clark said.
Towns will be given a login and password, which they will be allowed to give to the residents or keep to themselves. They won't be able to view reports from other towns but there will be no names involved so as to not compromise any investigations.
Towns can also print out full and brief summaries to keep on file if they choose.
The Sheriff and Deputy Mark Anderson, who created the site, met with a few of the towns to find out what they most wanted to know and what they could logistically do.
Clark also wanted the site to be something that was feasible without purchasing any new technology. "I didn't want to buy anything because that's an expense I'd have to pass on to the towns," he said.
Not only that, but he felt it was mandatory that the system be simple. "If it's not simple, quite frankly, it wouldn't get used and it would have no value," he said. "It's just a running police log of what we're doing, but specific to that town."
It takes only five minutes to show a town representative how to use the system, Clark said.
Deputies will call in to dispatch when they do any work in the towns and the dispatchers will enter it into the Web site. The language will also be clear, Clark said. "No 10 codes, no infamous police jargon."