In October 2014, the Lewisville Police Department partnered with Citizen Observer to launch the anonymous crime tip service Tip411. Using the service, residents can anonymously report crime tips and information to the department using text messages or by downloading the free Android or Apple TipLPD app for their smartphones.
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Onondaga County has a new way to reach your local police with a crime tip — without revealing who you are.
There are three ways to do it: You can text TIP411. You can download the county’s TIP411 mobile app on iPhone or Android. Or you can find the Onondaga County Crime Tips Facebook page. (You don’t need to log into Facebook to submit a tip.)
You could be witnessing a violent crime or a suspicious person or something else that police should know about.
All police agencies countywide — from college public safety officers to sheriff’s deputies — can now be reached at any time with a TIP411 text, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced today. (Some of the smaller departments are not staffed 24 hours.)
Even better, on-duty officers will get text alerts immediately. Law enforcement can text back with questions. You can send videos and photos from the scene.
A suburban drug task force is the latest Minnesota law enforcement agency to use texting and mobile apps to attract would-be tipsters.
Last week, the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force activated its “SWMTip” app, powered by St. Paul-based technology company tip411, for residents to submit anonymous tips and photos from their smartphones.
Phil Nawrocki, a Scott County Sheriff’s Office commander, said the first tip arrived within a day of launching the app. The task force joined more than 30 other Minnesota agencies using tip411 after noting how often it gathered information from mobile photos or text messages, Nawrocki said.
“Rather than have the individual go back home, sit down and try to find our e-mail address and contact info, they have a cellphone in their hand that can directly send confidential information to us,” Nawrocki said.
The Southwest Metro Drug Task Force covers Scott, Carver and McLeod counties as well as the cities of Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Tonka Bay.
Tip411’s apps keep tipsters anonymous by assigning them a six-character alias to be used when communicating with authorities, said tip411 President Terry Halsch. The company also has a “text-a-tip” system that is used by roughly 1,400 agencies around the country, he said.
Jeff Johnson speaks with Becky Ford and Denise Reese with the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition about tip411.
tip411, a web-based toolset that helps law enforcement engage community members of all ages, has announced the introduction of its tip411 Mobile app as part of its new tip411 Pro subscription option for customers.
“We’ve listened to feedback from departments across the US and have built a more advanced, more innovative product to help police better engage their communities,” said tip411 President Terry Halsch. “With tip411 Mobile, departments can now customize the experience for their residents, share important information, and help the public join in the crime-fighting effort by easily submitting anonymous tips.”
Used in over 1,400 communities throughout the U.S., tip411 enables anyone with a cell phone to text anonymous tips to authorized personnel within an agency. Tips sent by the public are received in real-time and can be responded to in seconds via an interface that allows for secure web and text-based conversations.
Smartphone users can also download free apps to submit tips from their iPhone or Android, and now, with tip411 Pro, departments can create a custom, branded tip411 Mobile app for their agency.
“tip411 has been an important tool for our department and community over the last two years,” said Assistant Chief Todd Milburn of the Brooklyn Park, MN Police Department. “Being one of the first agencies to use the new tip411 Mobile app is exciting and will no doubt greatly benefit our residents and public safety in our community.”
Released in 2014, tip411 Version 7.0 was an internal update for departments that helped streamline anonymous tip delegation and escalation, community alert creation, publication, and social media connections, and provided a user-friendly administrative dashboard with enhanced reporting features to view key agency metrics.
Building off the success of the new version, tip411 Mobile significantly improves the public’s access to their police department by allowing residents to not only submit tips, but access agency alerts, social media channels, important information, and more to help fight crime from the palm of their hand.
“The tip411 system is essential to modern policing,” said Chief Anthony Holloway of the St. Petersburg, Florida Police Department. “I’ve used this system during my time as chief in Somerville, MA, Clearwater, FL, and now in St. Petersburg, and I truly believe this tool empowers officers and the community to engage in ways that were not possible before.”
Departments looking to improve their connection with the community now have more flexibility with three subscription levels: tip411 Basic, tip411 Bundle, and the new tip411 Pro which features the tip411 Mobile app.
To learn more about tip411 and how it’s helping agencies engage and interact with the public, visit www.tip411.com, watch this short video, and visit tip411 at Booth 3619 during this week’s IACP Conference in Chicago.
