Online Crime Reporting Police: Online Complaints in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland
Citizens & police officers benefit from direct data entry via Online Crime Reporting Portal and digitization of processes with HybridForms: Affected citizens can use the Online Crime Reporting on the police portal to file criminal complaints quickly and contactlessly via web forms. The data submitted is centrally reviewed at the police and then forwarded to the responsible department.
HybridForms – Digital forms for police & public safety
The public police portal for Online Crime Reporting is the digital point of contact for reporting offenses such as theft, fraud and damage to property. It allows users to fill out forms in their web browser without prior registration. The forms are divided into individual sections and all mandatory fields are clearly marked. Sections are only displayed if they are relevant in the respective context. This ensures that the forms always remain clear and well-arranged. After submitting the completed form, a PDF preview is displayed in the web browser, and the user also receives an e-mail confirming receipt.
The qualification of incoming complaints is carried out centrally by responsible officers in a 24/7 monitoring system. The entries of the users can be checked in a further process stage. The cases are then assigned to the responsible office for processing via the Case Management System (VBS).
The security of data & systems is a key aspect at every stage of the process. The web client for data entry at the online portal does not leave any temporary data traces on the user’s end device. Uploads of JPG, PNG and PDF files are checked by the encapsulated upload server and converted into secure PDF formats. This means that evidence of citizens can be safely opened and evaluated by the police. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the original upload data is also stored in encrypted form so that IT forensics can access it if necessary.
The externally entered data is validated by the HybridForms ReachOut Server and provided in encrypted form for collection by the internal HybridForms Server. This ensures complete separation from internal servers.
About the Rhineland-Palatinate Police
The state police of the German state Rhineland-Palatinate (with about 4.1 million inhabitants) is assigned to the Ministry of the Interior and Sports. About 9,300 police officers are responsible for public safety – in crime prevention, hazard control & traffic safety.
About the Saarland Police
The state police of the German state of Saarland (with a population of about 980,000) is under the authority of the Saarland Ministry of the Interior, Construction and Sport. Around 2,700 police officers are on duty around the clock to ensure the safety of the people.
Since 2017, the HybridForms form solution has been used by the police in both federal states for digital data capture with the Self-Service App for mobile traffic accidents and criminal reports.
Anonymous and secure web forms for entering data on offenses such as theft, fraud & property damage on the secure online portals of the Rhineland-Palatinate Police and Saarland Police
»In times of Corona, the Online Crime Reporting Portal of the Rhineland-Palatinate Police is being used significantly more. The number of reports and tips received via the portal has almost tripled since the beginning of the pandemic […].«
»In the context of the Corona pandemic, the Online Crime Reporting Portal offers a solution for contact reduction and thus protection for citizens and police forces alike […].«
Online criminal reports & modern police work: Contactless communication citizen – police, fast external data input, direct forwarding for internal processing
Problems & requirements of the police
Until now, reports of simple crimes such as bicycle theft, property damage or Internet fraud had to be filed in person at a police station. The police officer recorded all the necessary data for this and entered it into the central case management system.
In order to save affected citizens the time-consuming trip to the police station, possible waiting times and the required personal presence, as well as to minimize the effort for data collection and administration for the officers, the cooperation project Online Crime Reporting Portal was launched in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. For this purpose, the HybridForms form system, already successfully used in both federal states, was extended with the additional module »ReachOut Server« for secure self-service portals.
Gradual implementation of the project & further expansion
Learning & benefits for daily police work
Online Crime Reporting Portal with HybridForms: Public access via web portal, secure functions, step-by-step internal processes, added benefits for population and police
Protected systems
Enterprise Security: Security for highly sensitive data & systems
Anonymous web forms
The HybridForms ReachOut Server is used for applications such as online complaints to the police or self-service customer portals – completely and securely separated from the base system.
Non-registered users can fill in and submit selected forms via web browser. The data entered is then checked on the ReachOut Server and encrypted for collection by the internal HybridForms Server. Thus, no external access to the internal server is possible.