iWATCH

The Washington region is a special place, one that we are privleged to call home. Now, citizens can help protect our home from those who would do harm by calling attention to potential threats to our community.

Now, when you see something that just doesn’t look right, you can quickly and easily make an electronic record of what you observed and report it to local police for investigation and possible action. The information you provide could be the difference in preventing an attack on  one of our nation’s most cherished institutions or critical functions. Making a report is free, easy, and an important element of our shared responsibility to protect our nation from harm.  

It is usually an individual business or service organization that will be the first to notice something out of the ordinary. When that happens, it is critical that these suspicions be immediately passed on to law enforcement, so that the information can be examined, evaluated and, if necessary, acted upon. The key to to preventing terrorist incidents in our nation’s capital is cooperation between law enforcement and the community. It is your awareness reported to police that can help predict and prevent attacks before they happen.

The iWATCH suspicious activity reporting tool enables users to provide detailed information about suspicious activities or behaviors that may indicate possible criminal or terrorist activity.

When a user logs in to www.iwatchdc.dc.gov, they are first presented with a Welcome screen (pictured at right). By clicking on "Make a Report," you will be prompted to enter your contact information (shown below) so that a member of the Metropolitan Police Department may contact you to follow up with any additional questions about what you’ve witnessed.  

Follow the prompts, clicking on "Next" until you have completed all of the fields and pages that are applicable to the report you are making. The forms will prompt you for the basic information, such as the date and time of occurrence, the location (entered by typing a street address, cross streets, by clicking on the map), information about the subject(s), vehicle(s), and a brief narrative (description) of what you saw. You can also submit photos on the "Attachments" screen.

Once you’ve entered all the data, the system will provide an opportunity to review everything before you submit it.