Officers from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office acted quickly after receiving a tip of a “possible threat of violence” at a Marion County High School on Tuesday. The tip was received via the Marion County Sheriff’s Office tip411 app shortly after 11 PM Tuesday night.
Using the information from the submitted tip, deputies investigated the claim and determined that no threat against the schools existed. The school administrators were involved throughout the process, being notified of the tip when it was received and were later notified when the investigation concluded.
“The purpose of the partnership with the schools and the tip411 app was done in an effort to help school administrators and law enforcement provide a safe environment for our students in Marion County schools,” Sheriff Bailey stated. “Our students can be the eyes and ears and assist us in keeping a safe learning environment. They can do so without fear of retaliation by using the app, which allows them to provide us with information anonymously.”
“tip411” is an app designed to be utilized by students to provide information to school administrators and law enforcement about threats and offenses such as bullying, violent threats, drug use, suspicious activity, and other such acts. Providers of tips can remain 100% anonymous when sending a tip while conversing with officials.
An anonymous text led to two arrests and the recovery of a gun and drugs, Atlantic City police said.
Jorge Herrera, 18, of Atlantic City, had a loaded handgun and marijuana when police arrested him after witnessing a drug deal Wednesday, Sgt. Kevin Fair said.
A text about drug sales to the city’s tip411 anonymous texting service led Detectives Will Herrerias and Jeffereson Rivera to the 2300 of Arctic Avenue, where they saw Herrara and another man in a drug deal, according to the report.
Jose Diaz, 38, of Atlantic City, left in a vehicle and was immediately stopped and taken into custody after he was found in possession of marijuana, Fair said.
The detectives then saw Herrera leaving a residence and took him into custody.
He was found in possession of a handgun loaded with hollow-point ammunition, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Fair said. A search of his residence turned up more marijuana for a total of 210 grams.
They also recovered a scale, baggies and $503 in cash.
Diaz was charged with possession and released on a summons.
Herrera is jailed on charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute in a school zone, possession of a weapon while committing a drug offense, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of hollow-point ammunition and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Anonymous tips can be by texting tip411 (847411) beginning the text with ACPD.
The Bismarck Police Department’s new anonymous tip program has yielded more than 100 tips since its launch on Jan. 1.
Officer Katie Horn said the tip411 app allows users to provide tips quickly but remain anonymous if they wish. Within a couple days of its launch, information received through the program helped officers locate a runaway. Tipsters also have provided information about shoplifters, and about 30 tips have been received on an active felony fraud case dating back to 2018.
The tip411 program replaces Crime Stoppers, which the department stopped using when tip411 was launched.
Tipsters can use tip411 three ways. They can text information directly to tip411, submit information to tip411 through the BPD website or use the app to send a message. Photos and videos can be attached to those messages. The message and text methods are quicker and easier, Horn said. Text messages can be sent to 847411. The keyword is BISPD.
tip411 interviewed Sergeant Kevin Fair of the Atlantic City, New Jersey Police Department. Here’s what he had to say about tip411 at ACPD:
Q: Tell us about your community and the Atlantic City Police Department (how many residents, how many sworn, etc.).
A: Atlantic City has about 39,000 residents. However, we receive around 24 million visitors a year.
Q: How is tip411 administered in your department (responsibilities, protocols, etc.)?
A: tip411 is monitored by personnel in our Communications Bureau and Surveillance Center on a 24/7 basis. There are also select officers that receive tips as they come in.
Q: How has the tip411 system aided your department?
A: tip411 has been a tremendous asset for us. We advertise it to our residents at community events and to our local businesses. In our first full year of use, we received a little over 200 tips. In 2018, we received over 4,200.
Q: You get LOTS of tips, what have you done to promote your tip411 system to make sure residents know about it and use it?
A: We have flyers available during community events. We will always routinely use the mobile app while giving presentations. We allow residents to see what we see, because some are skeptical that it’s anonymous. Also, at the end of every news release, the tip411 information is contained in the last paragraph. Information on tip411 will be provided at certain crime scenes.
Q: Any notable tips/arrests credited to tip411 that come to mind?
A: Arrests are frequently made off of tips that are received. Many of the tips are for narcotic related activity. The tips will aid in our detective’s investigations.
Q: You always make great use of our alerting feature – what do you typically send alerts out about and approximately how many residents do you reach with them?
A: We send alerts about weather events and general information from the police department that the public needs to know about. That would include; news releases, hirings/promotions, events, etc.
Q: The Atlantic City Police Department has used tip411 for many years, why is it so important for you to have anonymous tip capabilities? A: We police an environment where we need an anonymous service to aid us in our fight against crime. We will get information from witnesses that we may not get otherwise. This has allowed us to solve more than 75 percent of our non-fatal shooting investigations over the last several years.
Q: The department is about to launch our new tip411 Select option – which allows your information to be translated into 40 languages – why is this so important to APD and the communities you serve?
A: Atlantic City is a melting pot of different nationalities who speak a litany of languages. Being able to interact with particular segments of the community that we would not have otherwise is definitely a great advantage.
Below is just one recent example of Atlantic City Police being aided by tip411 to solve a violent crime, then using their tip411 alert feature to share that success with the media and public.
A San Jose man was recently convicted in Santa Cruz Superior Court for unlawfully killing a great white shark – also known as a white shark – in Santa Cruz County last summer.
Vinh Pham, 41, was fined $5,000 and placed on conditional probation for two years. The court also ordered his firearm to be destroyed.
Wildlife officers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began their investigation on June 17, 2018, immediately after the 9-foot male white shark washed up on Beer Can Beach in Aptos.
A necropsy or animal autopsy performed on the shark confirmed that it had been killed by multiple shots from a .22 caliber firearm.
Soon after, CDFW received a tip on its CalTIP reporting line that a member of a commercial fishing boat crew may have been responsible for the shark’s death.
Officers investigated the tip that night and observed the vessel fishing after dark near where the shark was discovered.
Two wildlife officers contacted the crew as the vessel returned to Santa Cruz Harbor early the next morning.
A regular commercial fishing inspection uncovered multiple violations involving their catch for that day, including possession of undersize halibut, no landing receipts, failure to weigh their commercial catch and failure to turn in landing receipts.
During this investigation, the officers located a fully loaded .22 caliber rifle concealed behind the seat of the truck the suspect was using to transport his commercial catch to markets.
