Drug Money Funded This Police App
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Berkeley County, S.C., is using AppArrest as a way to reach millennials almost a year after the unsolved shooting death of a woman in the community.
Local governments spend money seized from drug busts in a number of ways, but in South Carolina, Berkeley County might be the first to launch a sheriff’s office mobile app paid for with drug-bust funding.
The county’s AppArrest, which hit the Apple store and Google Play on Friday, cost $1,190 in seized drug money to set up and $890 a year to operate, The Post and Courier reported.
“I have been in law enforcement for 35 years,” acting Sheriff Butch Henerey said, according to the newspaper. “I can assure you that when I started, I never imagined such a tool to help fight crime.”
The app is aimed at millennials and was launched in the wake of the shooting death of a 19-year-old woman at an 800-plus-person party.
No shooter was identified and the county hopes the app, which allows for anonymous tips and cellphone photos of suspicious activity, might be a way for younger residents to connect with the sheriff’s department.
Other AppArrest features include crime alerts, maps, a most-wanted list and a tool to submit officer commendations. (There are other apps on the market that help ordinary citizens document police activity with their mobile devices.)
“Along with our Facebook page and Twitter feed, this new app allows us to better protect and serve, while also improving the ability of the public to help fight crime,” Maj. Melissa Blanchard said, according to The Post and Courier. “Moreover, we are able to provide this service at no cost to the taxpayers.”
Money from drug busts can be a valuable source of funding for various needs and projects.
Earlier this year, police in the city of Snohomish, Washington, wanted officials to devote five years-worth of drug money—$100,000—toward remodeling the department, The Herald reported. In Wayne County, Indiana, the prosecutor's office donated $5,000 from a state-created drug money fund to build a new park playground, according to Pal-Item.
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