One local police department is adding crime reporting to the array of on-line uses. Amherst is one of the first departments in Massachusetts to do it.

Planning vacations, buying plane tickets and doing your taxes on-line are all second nature. But one local police department is adding crime reporting to the array of on-line uses.

The Amherst Police Department is asking it's residents to log on if they need to report a minor crime.

"They can report vandalism, annoying phone calls, thefts, if their bicycle was stolen from a shed in their backyard, if their i-pod was stolen from the locker of their school," said Lieutenant Jennifer Gundersen of the Amherst Police Department.

Lieutenant Gundersen says they began this because of budget cuts in 2007 and needed to become more efficient. It's one way they can still offer service to people reporting things like vandalism, harassing phone calls, or traffic complaints without dispatching officers.

"A lot of the time we are taking a report for a keyed vehicle, and its really a report for the insurance company. A citizen will still get a copy of the report and forward it to their insurance company, they can get it for free and probably quicker than if an officer responded to the call," said Lieutenant Gundersen