MADISON, Wis.— The Madison community is now able to keep in touch with the police department through a new program.

The Madison Police Department is now available at your finger tips. The program is the first of its kind across the state.

Madison Police captain Matt Tye is excited to be able to connect with the community in a new way here in Wisconsin.

“This is a really unique program because it sends those automated messages either by text or email,” Tye said.

A message from the department about a recent crime is sent to the victim of that crime to keep them up to date on what is going on with  their case. That is one part of what this community engagement software does.

“It just explains the next steps in the process that gives that individual victimizers a case number, what the review process is,” Tye said.

Providing an update to see what’s going on back at the station being able to give a peace of mind to someone who just went through a traumatic experience.

The other part of this new one of a kind program is the ability for the community to fill out a survey to give the department direct feedback, something Tye said is important.

“That’s critical. It’s a foundational value for the police department. We have been a long standing supporter and innovator of community policing and we can’t go at it alone,” Tye said.

So through text messages and emails, Madison residents can stay up to date and provide feedback to those who are designed to protect and serve their community.