LOCAL NEWS

	Sheriff Ed Bieluch

On Saturday, Aug. 10, residents of Jupiter Farms and members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office unveiled the new Crime Watch America Web site designed to partner citizens and law enforcement in combating crime.
More than 100 residents of Jupiter Farms attended this event where I, along with Mike and Sue Lopilato, founders of Crime Watch America, previewed and discussed how this new website will work for all citizens in the county.
Originally, the Web site was designed for the Jupiter Farms Crime Watch to allow residents to assist detectives from the sheriff’s office.
Det. Todd Sidway was the first detective to put the Web site to use. Working several burglaries to vehicles that had occurred in a specific area in Jupiter Farms, he put information on the site asking residents to be on the lookout for a white El Camino.
The El Camino was the suspect vehicle in all the burglaries. Within days, Sidway received information regarding four vehicles matching the description and two or three tag numbers. A suspect was developed, and an arrest was made.
Due to the citizens of Jupiter Farms being additional eyes and ears in the community, a suspect was arrested, and the community had rid itself of one less criminal.
The unique part of this website allows residents to now communicate even better with law-enforcement officers. When information is put on the “On the Lookout” section of the site, residents can receive an alert within minutes via pager, messages on cell phones and e-mails. This can also be helpful with missing children and missing elderly residents. This is truly a new era for law enforcement.
Our goal is to have all citizens in Palm Beach County work with Crime Watch America. Anyone interested in becoming a free member can visit the website at www.crimewatchamerica.com or visit the Sheriff’s Office portion of the website at www.pbsosafecommunities.com.

Ed Bieluch is sheriff of Palm Beach County.