BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) - Right now in Brown County it can take several hours for deputies to respond to minor calls, like vandalism.

Now there is a new way to report crime.

Starting today people living in many Brown County communities can file their own police reports through an online portal called e-report.

"In this time of shrinking resources where deputies have more and more calls to go to this is a resource to allow deputies to go to some of the higher priority calls" says Captain Keith Deneys with the Brown County Sheriff's Office.

With a few clicks people can now report minor crime to the Brown County Sheriff's Office.

"We get about 30,000 calls a month. Only about 5,000 are 911 calls. So the other 25,000 are administrative or non-emergency calls" explains Cullen Peltier the Interim Director of the Brown County Communication Center.

The system asks careful questions to make sure nobody was hurt in the incident and a weapon was not involved.

"If they were to answer yes to any of these questions it would knock them out of the program and ask them to call a sheriff's deputy" says Lt. Deneys.

People can report identity theft, vandalism, lost property, and harassing phone calls.

The goal is not to take away face to face contact.

"The reports will be reviewed. If there is follow up that needs to be done we will be contacting you" says Lt. Deneys.

Because it is illegal to file a false police report safeguards are in place.

"They cannot submit this report without a valid e-mail address and the software actually captures your IP address" Lt. Deneys explains.

This system was purchased as part of a $700,000 overhaul of the Brown County records management system.

The site also allows people to track crime in their community and get current information about inmates.

For people without a computer or who just like a personal touch "This is an option" says Lt. Deneys. "If a citizen wants to speak to a deputy... a deputy will come".

It is important to note not all Brown County communities are participating.  

For example, the City of Green Bay is not using this system.

Click here to check if you can e-report.