COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday that county residents will now be able to file online police reports for certain incidents.

The citizens online police reporting system, which was funded by a grant last year, allows residents to inform the sheriff's office of potentially criminal incidents that do not require immediate law enforcement personnel attention.

Community Service Officer Gary Shults said he believes the online reporting system will become very popular with residents who "expect services to be provided immediately and conveniently."

"It saves the public time. They can file a report online instead of sitting around waiting for us to show up," Shults said. "We hope it will also give our deputies more time to do proactive police work."

Lost property, scam calls, crime tips and traffic concerns are a few of the types of incidents that fall under the scope of the new system.

However, Shults added, the loss of a firearm should be reported immediately by calling the sheriff's office.

"We need to get that into the system as soon as possible," Shults said. "Anything that is in progress or not cold, residents also need to contact us."

Detailed instructions on how and when to use the online reporting system can be found at the newly designed sheriff's office website, www.kcsheriff.com.

Once submitted through the website, the report will be reviewed by sheriff's personnel, who will approve the report. Residents will be sent a notification via email that the report has been processed and will be able to print a copy of the report free of charge.