Benton Harbor Police Department Cruiser
drivi86 In The News

New tip411 system not intended to replace 911 calls

Lack of witness cooperation has been a frustration for Benton Harbor Public Safety Director Dan McGinnis throughout his law enforcement career.

He hopes that use of a new, customized, crime-fighting smartphone app will help residents get involved. The tip411 system, which will be available to Benton Harbor residents within four weeks, is 100 percent anonymous, McGinnis said Friday.

McGinnis stresses that it is not intended to replace 911. He said residents in an emergency situation should continue to call 911. But someone witnessing a minor incident or having delayed information about a major incident should use the tip411 app. Residents in Benton Harbor without a smartphone will be able to text an anonymous tip to police via a cell phone by texting keyword BHPD to 847411 (tip411).

“This is not to replace 911,” McGinnis said. “But sometimes, if people want to be anonymous, they get frustrated if they call 911 to report something and a dispatcher starts asking a battery of questions when the person just wants to have the police come. People get frustrated and hang up.”

The app will allow residents to find information, view alerts, report crimes as they happen, and submit anonymous tips from their smartphone. The technology removes all identifying information before police see the tips, and there is no way to identify the sender.

“Our mission is to partner with the community to solve problems and improve public safety in a manner that is fair, impartial, transparent and consistent,” McGinnis said. “We believe our new tip411 app will help engage residents to partner with us and help fight crime.” 

McGinnis said he does not know all the reasons people are uncooperative or unwilling to report crimes or provide witness testimony. He said a common reason is fear of retaliation. Although in reality, he said, that typically does not happen. 

“Or sometimes they’re just apathetic. We have people who are victims and they will not name the perpetrator. It’s a cultural thing,” he said.

Developed by tip411, the app will improve the public’s access to agency alerts, social media channels and important information, tip411 President Terry Halsch stated in a news release.

“We’ve listened to feedback from partners like Benton Harbor and have built a more advanced and innovative product to help departments better engage their communities,” he said.

McGinnis said as soon as the app is available for residents to download, it will be announced through traditional media and social media.

Read the full story from The Herald Palladium

drivi86 In The News

Benton Harbor bringing in tip411 app

Benton Harbor residents will soon be able to report suspicious activity through tip411, a smartphone app that allows people to report activities anonymously.

Public Safety Director Dan McGinnis said he wants to help citizens feel safe communicating with law enforcement.

“The company that does this will not reveal the person’s name,” he said. 

He said they have talked to people who know who shot them, but won’t tell the police. 

“We had a person who had been murdered, who was done in front of people who actually took him to the hospital and none of them wanted step up and speak,” he said.

McGinnis said it’s a chance to let people communicate on their own terms.

“We just need the information,” he said. “We don’t care where it come from in most cases. But if we don’t get it, it makes it hard for us to protect your neighborhoods.”

In addition, he said the app will allow the department to send out alerts if needed.

After the meeting, Deputy Director Mike Clark said residents will be notified, when the app is ready, about how to download and use it through the city’s website and a news release. He didn’t know how long it will take to launch the app. 

During the meeting, McGinnis said one of the things residents sometimes want to report anonymously is illegal dumping.

McGinnis declared war on illegal dumping about two weeks ago. Anyone who sees someone suspected of illegal dumping can call the new dumping hotline at 944-7929.

“It’s absolutely appalling,” he said.

He said a state Department of Environmental Quality investigator last week found five automobile repair shops that didn’t have the proper paperwork, showing that they legally disposed of scrap tires.

“They are on notice,” he said. “… The tire situation is absolutely horrendous. We have hundreds and hundreds of tires in ravines.”

McGinnis said they have made 13 arrests concerning illegal dumping since the last City Commission meeting. 

Read the full story from The Herald-Palladium

Marion County Sheriff's Office
drivi86 In The News

Marion Sheriff’s Office Investigates Alleged School Threat

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.

Read the story from WMFD.com

Atlantic City Cruiser
drivi86 In The News

tip411 text leads to two arrests, loaded gun in A.C.

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.

Click here to see the alert from Atlantic City Police

Full story from BreakingAC.com

Man kills great white
drivi86 In The News

Man Kills Great White, tip411 Leads to Arrest

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.

Read the full story from Lake County News