The DeKalb Police Department is offering a new, anonymous way to send in police reports and tips.

On Thursday, the DeKalb Police Department is rolling out a new application called iWatch. iWatch DeKalb is a free smart phone and computer application for DeKalb residents to call in police reports and tips. iWatch DeKalb is now available for download, and the system will go live on Thursday.

“We will be encouraging everyone to try it out and recommend it to their friends and family,” said Chad McNett, community relations officer for the DeKalb Police Department.

Designed around optional anonymity, users can call, text and send video of a crime or suspicious activity to the police department with confidentiality. The app is used for both emergency and non-emergency situations. The new program is designed to cut down on unreported crime.

iWatch DeKalb is available for free download on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. There are no plans to bring iWatch DeKalb to BlackBerry World or Windows Marketplace.

The iWatch program is in more than 26 other cities, and is developed by iThinQware, a software company that works out of Dallas. The first iWatch application launched on Oct. 4, 2010. Since its inception, the iWatch application has sent more than 30,000 reports.

iThinQware President Dan Elliott said BlackBerry and Windows Phone users can still access iWatch DeKalb the same way PC and Mac users can, via the website.

iWatch can send anonymous reports, but the company does have the ability to locate a tipster if the situation warrants that action. Elliot said this hasn’t happened yet and it is unlikely to occur.

“We have the option of [divulging] the location and telephone number and personal details about the tipster to law enforcement, and that can be done without any headaches,” Elliot said. “What we have done is take great pains to protect the anonymity of the user, and so we don’t have the IP address of the computer, we don’t have the telephone number of the user, we don’t store any of the personal data that could be in non-compliance of FOIA [Freedom of Information Act]. We simply don’t store it, but, because of clever programmers, we have a way of recreating a path to the phone in our software, which is encrypted with a 256-bit algorithm.”

“Our goal was to make technology a force multiplier and not another extra layer of operational overhead, so I think we’ve accomplished that,” Elliot said.

iWatch has the capacity to translate more than 30 different languages in real time. The period between sending a tip via iWatch to the police department receiving the tip is about eight seconds. The price of the iWatch system is about $5,000 yearly for a city the size of DeKalb.

“We are excited about the deployment of iWatch throughout our community,” said DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery. “It is an exemplar of today’s technology building the bridge for an enhanced community and police partnership that will help make our residents, students, and visitors safer.”

According to the city’s website, dialing 911 is still the most effective way to report an immediate emergency.