Finding Crooks? 'There's An App For That'

University of Nebraska researchers are developing software to alert police to locations of registered sex offenders, parolees, known gang members and other offenders.

The project, funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice, will combine Geographic Information System data, which maps crimes and addresses, with Global Positioning System data, which uses satellites to track locations.

The result will be a program that alerts an officer, for example, to people with outstanding warrants or parole violations and instantly creates maps based on the officer's specific location.

Lincoln Police Department officers will test the app once it is developed.

Researchers want the program to be available for laptops, iPhones and Droid smart phones.

The project is the department's latest using "push technology, which feeds information to users.