Have you ever seen the flashing of police lights and wondered what happened?

Now you can find out thanks to CrimeReports.com.

Littleton Police Department recently hooked up with CrimeReports.com, a Web site that utilizes information taken from the department’s daily call log and provides crime data online.

Littleton police officers are continually filing crime reports throughout their shifts. Then once per day, the crime data is downloaded to the CrimeReports server, which instantly updates the Web site.

You can simply type in an address, access a map, and find out the types of crimes occurring in that particular neighborhood or in the entire city.

For instance, if a citizen would like to find out about a particular police activity they noticed in the city, they can search that location to stay informed.

Crimes such as homicide, breaking and entering, robbery, theft, auto theft, and DUIs can be searched for individually or all at once.

The site is free to users and residents can also register to receive e-mail alerts about crime near their home, office, school or any other location within city limits.

Incidents can be sorted by crime type, date, distance from a given address and over various periods of time; from three to 30 days.

Prior to the implementation of CrimeReports, the department provided copies of police reports upon request, for a fee.

Public Engines, a company in Utah that makes the CrimeReports application, has reported that more than 600 communities nationwide are taking advantage of the online application.

“The public loves it because they care about the crime rates and they want to know what’s happening on their street,” said Public Engines CEO Greg Whisenant in a news release about the application.

“With better information available to them, they can make better decisions. Not knowing gives people a sense of anxiety.”

Whisenant credited departments who are part of CrimeReports with being forward thinking. He said part of the reason there has been such great reaction is that the focus is on empowering the community by supplying residents with real information.