DPS launches website to get tips, improve services

The Department of Public Safety yesterday launched its new website with the goal of getting more tips about crimes and improving the department’s service to the community.

In a press briefing, DPS Commissioner Claudio Norita said the website—dps.gov.mp—tells the public what the department is and what its personnel do.

“It also gives an opportunity for the community to give us information, provide comments about what we are doing, how can we improve our services as well as reporting crimes,” Norita said.

The public can even download DPS forms from the website.

“It’s in the initial phase but the forms that are now available for downloading are those for renewing your driver’s license, or applying for a driver’s license, renewing your vehicle registration, applying for a firearms permit, and so forth,” the commissioner said.

DPS paid $2,700 to CD Consulting Services for the initial development of the website. The department will also be paying a $700 monthly to the company for hosting e-mail, technical support, real time updates and other services.

“It’s open for everybody around the world. It also links up with our DPS e-mail system where every employee of the Department of Public Safety from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota would have an e-mail address,” Norita said.

The commissioner said DPS had a website before, but it remained idle.

Norita said when he was appointed to DPS as commissioner a few months ago, he sat down with CD Consulting Services owner Daniel Camacho.

He said they discussed how to work on the website, making it user friendly and informative.

Norita said the objective of the website is to make some DPS services convenient such as downloading forms and filling up the forms.

He said once the Department of Finance is prepared, DPS is ready to start accepting online payments and doing everything online.

“You don’t have to drive, you don’t have to fall in line and wait for three to four hours for simple services that you can do on the computer,” Norita stressed.

On the issue of crimes, the commissioner said he expects to receive lots of tips from the community through the website. He said DPS will also get information from the public on the behavior or attitude of police officers or firefighters.

“There’s a lot space for improvements,” Norita said.

Camacho said the website is really challenging to do and at the same time rewarding in the sense that now the community has access to the department.

In explaining its important features, Camacho said the website is pretty much structured by the organizational element of the DPS.

“This website will also soon have a feature where anyone in the community can report a crime. That’s the next step that we are going to be working on,” Camacho said.

He said nobody knows who the informants are as they will simply fill up the forms, describe the crime that was committed, and the information will be forwarded to the proper person.

CD Consulting Services co-owner Roxanne Diaz described the website as very user friendly.

“People can’t imagine how large the department is. It’s huge. And this is a great way to know the Department of Public Safety,” Diaz said.

She said it’s the feedback from the community and the staff that will make the website functional.

“A website can be a website, but if it’s not used and is not user friendly and not up to date with information, it doesn’t serve anything,” she said.