The San Luis Obispo Police Department takes about 34,000 calls for service each year.
That's an increase of 7,000 calls from just ten years ago.
To keep up with the demand, the police department is unveiling a new online reporting system.
An idea some residents are happy about.
"I think it would be more convenient for people, just because we're always on our phones,” said Kaylee Lambert, San Luis Obispo resident.
Instead of calling 911, the idea of an online site could make some people more likely to report a crime when they see it.
"Absolutely, especially if I was out walking and saw something happening, as opposed to just ignoring it, I would definitely report it,” said Sandy Lipowski.
Using this new online reporting system, you can report incidents like petty and bicycle theft, vandalism, graffiti, lost property, and annoying communications.
The police say they are going to highly encourage people to report these types of crimes online.
Doing so, they say, will help free up officers to do more policing.
"The program is about $14,000 a year for us to operate, as opposed to the cost of a police officer and if we report about a thousand calls for service online, that's about how many calls a police officer takes in a year," said Chief Deanna Cantrell, San Luis Obispo Police Department.
Cantrell says the site will be very easy to use and will be something the public will value.
"I think they're going to appreciate it. They're going to appreciate not having to wait for an officer to come out to their call for something considered minor,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell says if there are people who aren't quite comfortable or familiar with the technology and site, they can still call dispatch and request to have an officer respond.
The online reporting system will be available for people to use next Tuesday, November 12.
**This story has been updated to remove suspicious circumstances as one of the things people can report online. Police say suspicious circumstances calls will be handled through dispatch and not through the new online reporting system.
