The Centre County Crimestoppers yesterday unveiled its latest innovation in helping law enforcement better serve local businesses and the community -- a new online crime alert system.

The system sends an instant e-mail alert on updates for ongoing investigations to anyone signed up for the database, Crimestoppers President Bonnie Spetzer said.

"We liken it to the early days of the telegraph system where the sheriff and his posse would be waiting in the next town for the outlaws to arrive," she said. "But unlike the telegraph, which the outlaws soon learned to cut the wires, this alert system has no wires to cut."

Spetzer said anyone can sign up at centrecountycrimestoppers.com to receive alerts, which can include anything from information on a stolen bicycle to details of a murder. The information will be sent out by local law enforcement agencies.

"There really is no limits or borders to this system," Spetzer said. "It can even go out to surrounding counties."

Crimestoppers is a group of Centre County citizens and law enforcement officials working as a nonprofit organization to help stop local crime.

People who have any suspicions or know anything about a crime, of any degree, are told to call the Crimestoppers' toll-free hotline at 877-99-CRIME and report information. When giving a tip, they can either give their name or remain anonymous. The tip is then passed on to the appropriate law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction, which is responsible for putting out an alert e-mail to the database members.

"In this day and age of electronic information, there are a huge number of people who spend more time online with e-mail, blogs and electronic news media than listening to the radio or watching television," Spetzer said.

Among several other community members and local officials, Penn State University Police Director Tyrone Parham was also in attendance.

State trooper Sally Brown said she hopes people from the university, including resident assistants, will join the database in order to get notifications on emergencies out faster.

Parham said the system would make it simple for university officials and building coordinators to get vital information out to students. Spetzer said there have already been several dozen businesses and members signing up for the database.

"We hope to have thousands on our list very soon," she said.

Jim Bennett, the man who came up with the idea of the online alert system, said he hopes larger businesses, like Wal-Mart and the Nittany Mall, will soon sign up.

"They can really benefit from this system, especially when it comes to tips and photos about fraudulent acts, such as stolen credit cards," he said. "This is the fastest way possible to stop criminals."