Modern public safety is built upon the foundation of trust and collaboration between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Erie County, NY Sheriff’s Office (173 sworn deputies) has taken a major step toward strengthening that bond by officially partnering with tip411 and launching its personalized, innovative tool.
“We are thrilled to partner with tip411 and offer our residents an even easier way to connect with our deputies. Strong partnerships and relationships with the community are necessary to provide effective public safety,” said Sheriff John Garcia. “We believe our new ErieCo Sheriff app from tip411 will help us do just that by working together with our residents to maintain a high quality of life for those who live and visit our community.”
Developed by tip411, the ErieCo Sheriff tool puts a powerful new crime-fighting tool into the hands of community members for use on their phones, allowing the public to send anonymous tips directly to the Sheriff’s Office and receive real-time alerts.
How It Works
The tip411 text-a-tip system is 100% anonymous. The technology removes all identifying information before deputies see the tip, and there is no way to identify the sender.
One of the most significant advantages of the tool is the ability for two-way communication. Deputies can respond to tips in real-time, allowing them to ask follow-up questions and gather more intelligence without ever knowing the identity of the tipster.
“(The tip411 tool) gives everyone across Erie County a safe and completely anonymous way to share information, report concerns and work with us to prevent crime and protect our communities.” – Garcia
“The person’s name, their phone number, the IP address is all scrubbed before we even receive the information,” explained Lt. Jeremy Lehning of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. “It allows us to message that person back and say, ‘Hey, can you give us a little more information?’ while they remain completely anonymous.”
Data-Driven Results
Beyond individual tips, the platform provides the ECSO with geographic data to identify crime trends. If the department sees a cluster of tips regarding drug activity or quality-of-life issues in a specific two-mile radius, they can proactively direct patrols and resources to that exact area to solve the problem.
“We’re always trying to increase our availability to the communities that we serve, and this is just another step in that process that significantly improves the public access to the sheriff’s office,” stated Lt. Jeremy Lehning. “The nice thing about tip411 is it’s going to be the quickest and most up to date way to get information and notifications from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and as far as its accessibility to the general public, it is fully and completely customizable.”
The Eire County Sheriff’s Office mobile app is available to download for free from the Google Play Store and the iTunes App Store. Citizens can also submit an anonymous text tip via their cell phone by texting the keyword “ECSO” and their message/tip to 847411.
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