Ottawa County Sheriff launches new app

PORT CLINTON — The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office hopes its new mobile app will improve communication with the public.Sheriff Steve Levorchick and communications Deputy Jeff Griffin unveiled the app — which is available for free on the App Store and Google Play — on Friday."In the last five years we've come a long way with technology in the sheriff's office," Levorchick said. "I see this as such a great tool that we can use to increase the two way conversation with our public in a way we never had the capability of doing in the past."The app was designed by the company The Sheriff App and Ottawa County is the third sheriff's office in Ohio to have the app after Licking and Union counties.The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office has a new app which is available for free on the App Store and Google Play.Features on the app, include the jail roster, sex offender registry, contact information for sheriff's divisions, submitting tips, links to other law enforcement websites and more.But one of the most useful aspects is the push notifications, which allows the sheriff's office to quickly disseminate vital information to everyone with the app."We thought this would be the most important feature we use on a daily basis," Griffin said. "We want to be transparent in the way we share media and press releases."The app would allow the sheriff's office to send notifications on snow level changes and detours when there's a major vehicle crash which can be just as important to visitors to Ottawa County as residents."Lets say someone was coming from Cleveland and we had a major crash on the bridge that's a push notification that's going to go out immediately and that's information they can utilize for a detour on Ohio 2," Levorchick said. "We want to get the word out about this app to our citizens, the surrounding counties and visitors to the area."The notifications can be used to help keep people safe through information on missing people to be on the look out for and warnings if there's a potential danger."Anything that is critical to the safety of our public and information that would enhance their ability to protect themselves would be go out immediately," Levorchick said.Implementation of the app was overseen by Griffin who graduated from Port Clinton High School in 2014 and has a degree in Homeland Security and Terrorism from Tiffin University."It enhances what we already do and we can reach a larger audience through it," Griffins said.Griffin has oversight of the app and will be in charge of updating information. Other communication officers and dispatchers will be trained in how to operate it and send out push notifications.The app is free to the public. The sheriff's office covered the fees including an initial setup cost of about $10,500 and yearly costs of approximately $5,000 for new updates to the software. "We're a community where people care about each other. I think its crucial we keep the communication between the public and law enforcement open to maintain that," Levorchick said.Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterOttawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick, right, and communications Deputy Jeff Griffin talk about the department's new app Friday at the sheriff's office.Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick, right, and communications Deputy Jeff Griffin show off the features of the department's new app which they unveiled Friday at the sheriff's office.