FCSO launches mobile app

In this age of rising digital technology, many organizations are finding ways to be more accessible through smartphones and other devices. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has made a big step in that direction by releasing a mobile app.

The free app, called Franklin CSO, is available through iTunes and the Google Play store.

“When I first heard about it, I thought it was an excellent idea,” said Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver. “It was a combined effort pulling all of it together.”

The app contains a wealth of information and is largely based on the website the sheriff’s office operates. A company called The Sheriff App assisted FCSO with developing the app and dealing with the necessary licenses needed through Apple and Android.

“It was inexpensive, and there wasn’t a lot to it as far as working with them. They walked us through it all,” Oliver said.

This project has been in the works for about three months, Oliver said. The most time-consuming portion of it dealt with getting all of the crime details organized and getting everything connected properly.

In the app, people can access the inmate roster, submit tips to FCSO, find a link to registered sex offenders in the area, see the most wanted list and more. There is also a section that tells the current weather, the daily forecast and any radar alerts for the area.

“The main goal is to keep the public aware of what’s going on in regards to major events, road closures, bad weather, stuff like that,” Oliver said.

Businesses like to stay up to date on inmate rosters, sex offender lists and most wanted lists, and the inmate roster is one of the most popular sections of the website, Oliver said.

The purpose of putting all of this information into a mobile format, Oliver added, is so people can access the information more easily on their phones, instead of trying to navigate the full website.