SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Another Maritime city is looking at the idea of residents reporting certain crimes using an online form.

Saint John Police Force spokesperson Jim Hennessy said incidents considered minor in nature could be reported through the city's police website. This would include small fender-benders or thefts under $5,000.

"We're not sure if we're going to implement this, but we've seen other police forces that have utilized it and they've seen a reduction of up to 30 per cent of their calls annually," said Hennessy, adding the online option could allow officers to focus more time and resources on urgent matters and community policing.

Halifax Regional Police introduced a similar online crime reporting form in 2011, followed by the Fredericton Police Force in 2015. Other police departments across Canada have done the same, including a handful of local RCMP detachments.

In Fredericton, a specific form is available for retail and gas station staff to fill out if theft occurs in those locations.

"It makes it easier to report crime in some respects as long as you have access to Wi-Fi and devices to let you do that," said Mary Ann Campbell, director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

Campbell said there are advantages to being able to re-direct police resources to more pressing matters, but also the potential to miss key details.

"You lose the face-to-face interaction piece that comes with the reporting," said Campbell. "When I initially hear about these things being used I worry about whether there's some relationship building that might be needed to help some details become disclosed.

"However, when you realize there's still an investigation piece that will happen, if it's necessary post-reporting, there will still be officer interactions that can happen."

Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said an online crime reporting form may divert non-emergency calls away from 911.

"This may allow the police to triage what they consider to be more minor offences versus more significant offences," said Boudreau. "The challenge however is going to be the perception. Someone may still think their fender-bender is not a minor-incident.

"So if the police is concerned about transparency or public confidence this may work against them."

Data on the number of crimes being reported online in Halifax and Fredericton wasn't immediately available Monday.

"It's the kind of thing I would advocate you measure, monitor, and see what if it's doing," said Campbell. "You tweak and adjust based on the data and see if you actually get a product effectively adding efficiencies as intended."

Many Saint John municipal departments are still getting up to speed following a November cyberattack. An investigation completed in February found no evidence that personal information was breached, though the city advised users of their website to keep an eye on their financial records for suspicious activity.

If approved, Hennessy said an online crime reporting form in Saint John could be up and running by the end of 2021.