Residents of Poplarville can now keep up with their police department via the Internet.

The site was launched Tuesday, and allows visitors to not only get an understanding of what the department does, but complete a survey concerning the department’s operations, said Capt. Rossie Creel.

Questions in the survey range from how citizens feel the department is enforcing traffic, parking and other laws.

Other categories include whether officers exude a professional appearance, if they are courteous, if they are sensitive to community problems and how quickly they respond to calls.

At the end of the survey residents can type in a suggestion. If residents want to attach their name to a suggestion there is a link under the “comments/suggestions” link at the top of the page.

If residents have lived in another town they can compare their sense of safety within Poplarville to other cities.

“We want to gather information on how the public perceives our job,” Creel said.

The end of the survey also allows interested residents to express their desire to become part of a neighborhood watch program.

If a resident needs to contact an officer after hours there are two cell phone numbers listed on the site. Creel said the department does not have a non-emergency dispatch after hours, instead residents are asked to call one of the two cell phone numbers listed under the “contact us” link at the top of the page.

The Sheriff’s Department dispatches emergency calls for the city when 911 is called, Creel said.

If an officer is on a call, they will not answer the non-emergency number, so residents are advised to call the second cell phone number listed, Creel said.

As they gather more information and suggestions, the website will continue to add new features.

“A website is ever evolving,” Creel said. “Based on community comments and our experience with it, we will do updates as we need to.”

Within the first 24 hours of the site’s launch, more than 40 surveys were filled out. Creel said he intends to analyze the surveys by next week.

The site can be found by visiting www.poplarvillepd.com.