Fairfax County Police are introducing a new online tool that citizens can access to be better informed of incidents happening nearby.

Police say the new crime mapping tool “is designed to help users better understand where police are responding, and offers users a general description of the incident.”

Developed in conjunction with the Fairfax County Department of Information Technology’s GIS branch, the new crime mapping application will be a valuable asset for residents, neighborhood civic associations, businesses, and anyone who wants to know the latest police-related events in their neighborhoods, said police.

Here is how to use it:

Go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/policeevents/#police, type the address of the location, and all police-related events within a specific radius will populate the screen.

Information is, typically, a day behind real-time events.

Users may inquire about any location they like; their child’s school, a local business district, a potential area they’d like to move.

Users can also search by incident type (such as assault, larceny, burglary or sex offense), by date, by location and date range.