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Chief Anthony Holloway Calls tip411 “essential to modern policing”

Chief Anthony Holloway of the St. Petersburg, Florida Police Department is someone who has been a great partner with tip411, using the system as the head of three different departments.

Read below the letter below that Chief Holloway shared with his colleagues in the law enforcement community about his thoughts on the need for tip411 and how it is essential to modern policing:

“Dear Colleagues, 

As law enforcement leaders, we continue to look for ways to reach out, share information, and encourage our citizens to help us with our efforts to reduce crime and create safer communities.

I believe the tip411 system is essential to modern policing.  I’ve used this system during my time as chief in Somerville, Massachusetts, Clearwater, Florida, and now in St. Petersburg, and I truly believe this tool empowers officers and the community to engage and communicate in ways that were not possible before.

With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Terry Halsch, President of tip411.  I invite you to connect with him to learn more about how their anonymous text a tip service, community alerts sent directly to residents via email and text message, social media integration, and new, innovative, tip411 Mobile app for iPhone and Android can be deployed by your department.

Visit tip411.com to learn more about the solutions they offer and read about how departments large and small across the United States are utilizing the system to gather intelligence from residents, close cases, and reduce crime.

Sincerely, 

Anthony Holloway
Chief of Police

Holloway Tip411 Support letter 20170131

Anonymous Tip
admin In The News

Smartphone app helps fight crime in Crow Wing County

Smartphone apps have uses ranging from checking the weather to watching movies to reading about the latest breaking news, and everything in between. Now Crow Wing County residents can download an app that lets them send crime tips to the sheriff’s department and communicate with local law enforcement from anywhere while remaining anonymous.

Tip411 is a program that has been gaining popularity in the lakes area over the last eight months. After downloading the CWCS Mobile app on an iPhone or Android device, users can simply submit anonymous tips relating to any criminal or suspicious activity directly to the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office.

And that’s not all.

“The cool thing with this feature is people can still remain anonymous if they wish, but we’re allowed to communicate back with them. So that’s where we can add the additional questions,” said Capt. Scott Goddard, of the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office.

The app allows the investigator receiving the tips to respond to the tipster and ask follow-up questions.

“They’ll text us in something very vague, like, ‘Vehicles coming or going late at night from a residence,'” Goddard said. “And then our follow-up questions might be, ‘Well, can you give us descriptions of the vehicle?’ or ‘What times are the vehicles coming and going?'”

Read the full story from the Pineandlakes Echo Journal

Cheektowaga Police Department
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Text through Cheektowaga’s tip411 results in two drug arrests

Two people were arrested on multiple drug charges Wednesday night after police received an anonymous tip through the department’s tip411 texting service.

The anonymous text was sent to the department around 7 p.m. saying that a car was parked on Oakwood Drive in the town’s South Line district and several people were smoking drugs.

“Officers Chris Wierzbowski and Mike Menth responded and found two people in the car and then discovered a baggie with crack cocaine at the feet of the occupants.  Further investigation led to the discovery of multiple envelopes of heroin, a crack pipe, and several hypodermic needles,” said James Speyer, Assistant Chief of Police.

Police arrested and charged Jessica Seiler, 22 of Tristan Lane, Williamsville and Dillon Butchart, 25 of Pleasant Ave, Depew with three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of a Hypodermic Instrument.

Read the full story in the Cheektowaga Chronicle.

Delhi Township
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Interview with Delhi Township: Part III

tip411 interviewed Chief Jim Howarth of the Delhi Township Police Department in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the third and final part of our conversation.

PART III

Q: What have you done to promote your tip411 system to make sure residents know about it and use it?
A: We make sure our tip411 information is always posted on all of our social media sites, with links to sign up for alerts and submit tips.

In the beginning, we had business cards made up with tip411 information and officers would hand those out. Officers had them in their car and when they had an interaction with a resident, they’d hand them a card and introduce them to the tip411 program, tell them its free to use to send tips and to sign up for alerts. We still have cards but it was imperative in the beginning.

We really saw a jump with residents buying in to our tip411 efforts when local media starting putting the information on the news. That was as easy as sending out a press release and what’s nice now is they all buy-in to signing up for tip411 and, if they don’t, they know it’s pushed out through Facebook so local reporters are getting our alerts in real-time. They’ll call me right away saying they want to do a story, or sometimes now they won’t even contact me and I’ll see the alert on the news with the surveillance photos we put out. It’s great and helps us reach more residents.

Q: Any advice for other departments considering tip411?
A: Don’t hesitate. My biggest regret is waiting two years before I pulled the trigger to purchase tip411. I felt comfortable coming on board and the rest has been icing on the cake. Now I realize it is what I thought it was.

Any time it can help another agency and talk to them about tip411, I do. It’s not like I’m trying to sell it to them, but when I find a good product for a reasonable amount that helps me do my job better, I like to share that.

My advice is for other departments just to take a look at tip411 because once they do, the product sells itself.

Chief Howarth Interview – Part I

Chief Howarth Interview – Part II

Ramsey anonymous texting tip service
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Ramsey police introduce anonymous texting tip service

The borough police department has launched an anonymous texting line for people to report crimes, authorities announced Wednesday.

People will now be able to text 847411 (tip411) and send anonymous tips about crime or suspicious activity, authorities said.

More than 1,200 communities in the United States use tip411, which allows police officers to receive real-time information, Ramsey police said.

“We believe the public is our greatest law enforcement resource,” Chief Brian Gurney said. “Tip411 allows a safe and secure way for community members to share important information with police without the fear of retribution.”

The service also “removes all identifying information before police see it and there is no way to identify the sender,” authorities said.

Gurney said that the service could also be used for people to report possible overdoses.

“Due to the opiate overdose epidemic, we are hoping that the Tip411 system will offer an alternative for people who may know of others that may need help with their opioid addiction,” he said. “We are also offering an alternative for young people, who do not want to formally contact police with regard to their friends that may be experiencing drug addiction and other issues.”

Gurney said anyone with questions can get more information by calling 201-327-2400.

Read the full story from NorthJersey.com