The police want to introduce an online crime reporting tool around the same time as the election.
The proposed service would handle minor reports like suspicious activity, but likely expand to include crimes like theft and wilful damage.
Police executive director of strategy and transformation, Angela Brazier, said if there was “sufficient demand”, funding will be requested in April, with the service ready in September.
The cost of an online crime reporting service would depend how broad police made it. Services would be added incrementally over six to 12 months.
“We're having a look at what might be some first-off reports at the easier end of the scale where's there more volume and less intensity in the reporting, so reporting suspicious activity in your street for example could be a good one,” police assistant commissioner of districts Allan Boreham said.
“We believe that there are people that are more comfortable with reporting things online than they would be in person or by telephone.
“Or people feel, for the seriousness of what they're reporting, it's not worth bothering us, and they might not make that call at all. We want that information and we think online services would see an increase in that type of information,” Mr Boreham said.
Online crime reporting is offered in several countries around the world including parts of the US, UK and Australia.
A system introduced in New South Wales last year received nearly 1000 reports a month.
Labour's police spokesperson Stuart Nash supported introducing an online crime reporting tool, as long as it was treated the same as reporting crime in other ways.
“It’s got to be treated with a matter of urgency and [the police] have got to devote the resources to make sure it meets the expectations of the people using it,” Mr Nash said.
Mr Boreham said the system was not about saving money or transferring staff.
“There will be opportunities in that, but at the same time demand is obviously growing so this is not about cost cutting,” he said.
A business case, due in April, was likely to have broad parliamentary support.
