Crime St. Mary's: Now You Can Report Minor Crimes via the Net

[Editor]

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office is now offering citizens a web-based method to report minor crimes where there is no suspect information or other investigative leads. The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Online Reporting System can be used to report any suspicious incidents, lost property, theft, or vandalism, where no suspect is known or seen.

Residents should use the Online Reporting System to report suspicious incidents, lost property (such as cell phones, wallets, and other items of value), theft and vandalism – so long as there is no suspect or investigative information. Otherwise, residents should continue to call the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at 301-475-8008 for a deputy to be dispatched.

As always, if there is an emergency, a crime in progress, or an immediate need for medical assistance, dial 9-1-1.

"The online reporting system is a valuable adjunct to direct contact with the Sheriff's Office in situations where the citizen reporter does not know who committed the crime," said Sheriff Tim Cameron. "This new program will save the community time when reporting, and allow deputies to perform their investigations more efficiently."

Citizens can access the reporting system by entering the following address in their internet browser, www.firstsheriff.com/citizenreport, or through the Sheriff's Office website at www.firstsheriff.com on the home page or under resources.

Anyone with questions is asked to contact the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at 301-475-8008.

 

[Goldenhawk]

That's interesting - but there's no way on earth I'd use it. They don't have a secure version of the page, but they ask for literally every single bit of information needed to steal my identity, including address, multiple phone numbers, SSN, driver's license number, date of birth, place of birth... if someone intercepts this page, it's a gold mine.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

That's interesting - but there's no way on earth I'd use it. They don't have a secure version of the page, but they ask for literally every single bit of information needed to steal my identity, including address, multiple phone numbers, SSN, driver's license number, date of birth, place of birth... if someone intercepts this page, it's a gold mine.

Holy chit! Are they serious? This is a simple mail form page. That means when you click "send", it goes as raw data to someone's email box. Whose email box? What security measures have been taken to ensure the safety and integrity of this personal data? I barely trust law enforcement as it is. No way in hell I'll ever use this. And no one else should as well. This is nothing but a fishing expedition and data collection ploy conducted by the Sheriffs dept.

And, there are no disclaimers or legal policy use listed for this reporting. No privacy policy specific to this reporting. They are really showing their ignorance.

 

[Goldenhawk]

Seems like there are several pretty blatant violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Code of Federal Regulations regarding "Use and collection of social security numbers":
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552a
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/16.53

Not to mention Maryland law:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/f...=14-3402&ext=html&session=2016RS&tab=subject5
that says

§14–3402.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle, a person may not:
...
(3) Require an individual to transmit the individual’s Social Security number over the Internet unless the connection is secure or the individual’s Social Security number is encrypted;
(4) Initiate the transmission of an individual’s Social Security number over the Internet unless the connection is secure or the Social Security number is encrypted;

 

[LostNFound]

Seems like there are several pretty blatant violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Code of Federal Regulations regarding "Use and collection of social security numbers":
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552a
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/16.53

Not to mention Maryland law:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/f...=14-3402&ext=html&session=2016RS&tab=subject5
that says

First thing I thought of was- Im not putting all my PI in to some online form that goes to a random cop shop address? WTF is wrong with whoever set this up. People will use it though- and stuff every bit of information on there thinking they are some sort of arm chair hero.

 

[Goldenhawk]

Well, I'm happy to see that they HAVE corrected the security issue with the form. It is now a properly set up secure (HTTPS) page, so they can no longer be accused of violating various laws about protecting personal information simply due to the website.

With that said, it's still an awfully intrusive form and they may not get as many submissions as they hope precisely because it raises so many concerns. And there's no accounting for how they store the information they get. I guess we're supposed to trust them simply because they're government officials, right?

 

[Clem72]

With that said, it's still an awfully intrusive form and they may not get as many submissions as they hope precisely because it raises so many concerns.

Were you under the impression they hoped to get submissions? My impression was that they wanted to be able to send people to the webpage rather than take a report in person and waste resources on petty crimes with zero evidence. The site is probably perfectly secure because the e-mails route to null.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

There is still no statement on how long the information is to be saved, who is the custodian of the information, who has access to the information, how the information is secured. On top of that, it is the cheesiest most unprofessional looking input form. Looks like it was designed by a middle school student. Also, there is no verification of who is inputting the information. No create/sign into account login screen. Anyone can create a false crime to impugn anyone. Extremely unprofessional and clearly not thought out.

 

[BernieP]

Seems like there are several pretty blatant violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Code of Federal Regulations regarding "Use and collection of social security numbers":
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552a
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/16.53

Not to mention Maryland law:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/f...=14-3402&ext=html&session=2016RS&tab=subject5
that says

News flash, we've been violating that rule for decades. I remember having a tax ID number that was NOT my SSN.
When I first started working I was involved in taxes and fraud. Back then you SSN was not to be used by anyone but the SSA.
You didn't put it on your school or scholarship forms, your employer only had it to report your earnings and withholdings to the SSA, not the IRS.
The state government didn't use it.
Now it's become the defacto national ID number. Used by everyone, particularly in areas where workers are not bonded or even a background check is run. Hint, how often have you been asked for your SSN in the doctor's office. Some low paid clerk is handling that data.

 

[DannyMotorcycle]

I would leave it blank or fill it in with bad data sssn? 000-00-0000