New Sheriff’s App Shows Jail Info, Community Alerts for Oxford

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department has a new cell phone app that allows users to look up who is in jail, search local sex offenders and submit crime tips anonymously.

The sheriff’s department contracted with TheSheriffApp.com, a division of OCV, LLC, which specializes in mobile app development for sheriff’s offices and other public safety organizations around the country.

The app offers quick access to items of public interest and is user-friendly.

Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East said the new app helps to make the sheriff’s department more open and transparent.

“It’s new and growing company and I thought it would be good to get with them at the front and grow with them,” East said. “Allows us to be more open and transparent. It will help us get information out there, like if we have a bad wreck or lost child or elderly person. We can get that information out immediately and find people faster or warn people to stay away from that area.”

Users will be able to submit tips, view local sex offenders, view Lafayette County’s most wanted suspects, connect to all social media platforms, view jail information and mug shots, and get the latest news and press releases from the department.

“Over 80% of people in the United States own and use smartphones as their primary means of communication,” said OCV Vice President Kevin Cummings. “Mobile apps offer agencies a better way to alert, inform and prepare the public. Apps allow public safety agencies the ability to reach and serve their citizens where they are – their smartphones.”

East said he has plans to add additional services to the app once the department gets feedback from the community on what they’d like to see added and how it can be improved.

“We’re going to see where it goes and hopefully, get it to catch on in the community,” he said. “We think it’s going to be a great tool for us and the community.”

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department app is available for download for free in the App Store and Google Play by searching “Lafayette Co. Sheriff MS.”