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Since You Asked: YHOP allows people to file confidential reports Thursday May 25, 2017 at 12:01 AM I peruse the daily crime reports on the Ashland Police Department's website (www.ashland.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=427) and noticed a new trend. Typically, each line item — for lack of a better term — will include a time, date and brief description of an arrest, investigation, citation, etc. Sometimes, entries are labeled "Confidential Investigation" and they won't include an address. OK, fine. I'm assuming it's something sensitive such as a sex-abuse case or the like. But lately, some entries have included an odd phrase: "Confidential report received via YHOP online form." Really hoping someone can nail down what this acronym stands for and enlighten me a little more about these types of entries. — No name given You're right on the first point, inquisitive person of mystery: Confidential investigations are typically labeled as such on Ashland police logs because they have to do with sexual assault, according to Chief Tighe O'Meara. And that bit actually ties in to the acronym you mentioned. YHOP stands for "You Have Options Program," which is an online reporting program utilized by Ashland police, one of six departments to do so. O'Meara said it's been very useful. "There are a lot of obstacles to reporting sexual assault, and the intent of the program is to strip as many of those obstacles away," he said. Those wishing to use it can go to www.reportingoptions.org, choose which department to file the report with, then fill out an online form. "The aftermath is that one of those reports is generated that then populates on the crime log," O'Meara said. The department has utilized the program for several years, but that phrase you've started to notice is probably because a reporting officer chose to phrase it that way. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.