The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has a new way for county citizens to communicate with their law enforcement personnel.

Through a partnership with the National Sheriff’s Association Neighborhood Watch program, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has announced that citizens can download a smartphone app to instantly report community concerns to the sheriff’s office.

We applaud the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for working to make it easier for the community to share concerns and problems.

With the advent of smartphones and the ever-increasing use of technology in today’s society, this was a smart move for the Sheriff’s Office.

Now, if someone sees a neighborhood problem — not an emergency, but a concern such as vandalism or loose pets — that person can simply take a photo of the concern with his or her smartphone and send the photo and an accompanying message to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office through this app.

That makes it easier for citizens to report crimes and easier for the sheriff’s department to understand exactly what concerns citizens. Citizens have always been an important factor in helping our sheriff’s deputies keep our neighborhoods safe, clean and wonderful places to live. Because of the foresight of our sheriff’s office, now there’s an app for that.

To get the app, visit the app store for your smartphone and search for “Official Neighborhood Watch App,” or go to Nwapp.org and click on the icon that corresponds to your smartphone. The app can be purchased for $1.99.

The We Say is the opinion of the Shelby County Reporter editorial board.