App aids crime reporting

A new mobile application is due to be introduced in Spain this summer that will allow holidaymakers to report crimes directly from their mobile phones. David Ing has the details Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands will be the initial test bed for a system that tourists can download on arriving at their destination and will save them the need to report a crime directly to a police station. Known as 'e-denuncia' â€" for denouncing a crime â€" it has been devised by the State Society for Managing Tourism Innovation and Technology (Segittur). The society’s president, Antonio López de Ávila, said their aim was to have the scheme operational in Palma in a few weeks and later roll the scheme out to other areas of Spain. With the new app, he said, “The tourist can make the formal complaint in his own language. The programme then translates it and takes care of reporting it to the police.” Once the complaint is received and confirmed by the police, investigations will be able to start straight away. One of the main problems in the past has been the speed of procedures. In many cases, by the time the criminal has been arrested the holidaymaker has returned home and is not available to countersign a formal accusation document that would allow the criminal to be prosecuted. With the e-denuncia, the data supplied by the victim will be logged directly with the legal authorities, allowing them to ‘present an accusation in their (the victim’s) name and keep them informed during the whole process’. One of its main advantages will be that it functions in various languages, which will mean important cost savings. As a result of recent cutbacks to counteract Spain’s financial crisis, one of the common cost-cutting measures has been precisely to reduce the number of translators employed at police stations. López de Ávilasaid e-denuncia is planned to be the first part of a larger project to ‘facilitate inter-activity between the tourist and the destination’. It is being funded by the national Ministry of Industry and Tourism. ShareThis Powered By iWebRSS.co.cc