The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : POSTCARD FROM CYBERSPACE : Techno-Policing the Neighborhood

Reach out and arrest someone through cyberspace? You can, thanks to a new computer bulletin board system (BBS for short) operated by the West Valley Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The system, which premiered last Friday under a pilot program, is primarily geared toward West Valley residents, but anyone with a computer and a modem can call in and participate.

The Community Policing BBS, as it is known, provides a variety of services to the public, including home security tips, community alerts and the ability to communicate directly with local police in a public forum. At present, plans for a guest log-in so tips can be left anonymously are being considered as a way for residents to report ongoing non-emergency crimes.

If you dial into the BBS, you’ll be presented with a standard questionnaire asking many of the same questions other BBS systems typically ask. One user expressed some uneasiness at the prospect of giving this personal information to the police, but Dennis Santiago, BBS system operator for the LAPD, said the data is used only to determine the access level of the caller and to periodically verify the caller’s identity on future BBS accesses.

With the new BBS, police now have the ability to distribute a digital image of a suspect, along with the suspect’s description, in a form that can be downloaded and displayed on your computer. The photo or sketch can be updated as needed, along with community alerts if the suspect has been seen in the area.

In an emergency such as an earthquake, the BBS would collect damage and casualty reports, conditions permitting.

Currently, there are three levels of access on the BBS: public, operational and police officer. Each provides successively higher access to security areas where police and community volunteers can exchange information privately.

The system costs taxpayers very little. The LAPD pays for the phone line and electricity, both small expenses. The BBS software and the computer it runs on were donated by Santiago as a community service.

To access the BBS, set your modem software to 8 bits, no parity and 1 stop bit--the standard settings for reaching a BBS--and have your computer dial (818) 756-9057. The LAPD BBS accepts calls from modems ranging in speed from 300 bps to 14,400.