This article was first posted at NST. Image above sourced from NST.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang local council workers can now channel any reports of illicit activities happening in their areas via the new Volunteer Smartphone Patrol (VSP) application.

State Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Datuk Mohamad Anil Shah Abdullah said the mobile application would serve as a platform for the state police and Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to work together and fight crime.

VSP is a mobile application, improvised from the police’s older system, the ‘Rakan Cop’, a Short Message Service (SMS)-based alert.

“With this new and improved mobile application, the people, including MBPP, may record and report any criminal activities to us even better as they can now attach photos or videos when reporting to us, faster and easier.

“Since it was introduced (last year), VSP has helped police to obtain valuable information with proof of videos and images of illicit acts, including the suspects involved in it,” he said during a briefing and registration session with MBPP personnel at Komtar here today.

To date, 40,700 users have registered to use the VSP mobile application in the state, and Anil believed that it could reach the 50,000-user target soon.

He also expressed confidence that the VSP mobile application would be able to attract more civil servants to work with the police to fight crime.

The briefing held today also touched on the danger of spreading fake reports through the mobile application as all the reports and information would be stored by the system.

“If this application is used correctly, police are able to react quickly on any criminal acts on the street effectively.

“We hope all parties will work together by participating in this and register as VSP users to fight crime together.” he added.