Police Cruiser

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Uses Alert to Share Home Safety Tips

 

Security Tips for Securing Your Home

 

Home security is always a priority. Here are some good Home Security Tips we found at Howstuffworks.com

1. Lock up your home, even if you go out only for a short time. Many burglars just walk in through an unlocked door or window.

2. Change all the locks and tumblers when you move into a new house.

3. For the most effective alarm system, conceal all wiring. A professional burglar looks for places where he or she can disconnect the security system.

4. Your house should appear occupied at all times. Use timers to switch lights and radios on and off when you’re not at home.

5. If you have a faulty alarm that frequently goes off, get it fixed immediately and tell your neighbors that it’s been repaired. Many people ignore an alarm that goes off periodically.

See the alert and full set of safety tips here.

tip411 a Great Tool for the Police

“…Communication is vital to our residents…and tip411 provides a great tool for the police!”

tip411 interviewed City Manager Pete Landrum and Police Chief Dennis Evers of Beavercreek, Ohio about their experience with tip411 in their community.

Q: Tell us about your community and the Beavercreek Police Department (how many residents, how many sworn, etc.).
Chief Evers:
The City of Beavercreek is a suburb of Dayton, Ohio and is the largest city in Greene County. We are one of the fastest growing suburbs in the Dayton area and are situated near Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The city is comprised of approximately 46,000 residents. Many residents are current or former military personnel employed at the base or by one of the many research and manufacturing firms engaging in defense technologies, aerospace and other advanced technologies.

Our police department has 50 sworn officers. We have received the “Accreditation with Excellence” distinction from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). We have two major highways and two malls within the city that pose policing challenges due to the increased daytime population.

Q: How did you hear about tip411?
Chief Evers: Our current City Manager, Pete Landrum, was familiar with this product at his previous position as Township Administrator in Delhi Township, a suburb of Cincinnati. He suggested we explore using it.
Manager Landrum: It is a good communication tool with residents and easy to use for both users.  It worked well in Delhi Township and I thought it would also be a good fit in the City of Beavercreek.  I simply sent Chief Evers the link to tip411 on the Delhi Township website and asked him to review and told him how I thought it was a really good tool and program.

Q: How is tip411 administered in your area (responsibilities, protocols, etc.)?
Chief Evers: After normal administrative business hours, the Communications Center and the on duty supervisor are responsible for monitoring and directing the tip information for the proper response. During normal business hours, one of the Captains is responsible for this function.

Q: How has tip411 aided Beavercreek?
Chief Evers: tip411 has allowed us to push out to our various social media platforms our information, notifications, alerts and news releases through one click of the mouse.  It affords us another means to facilitate two-way communication with our community.
Manager Landrum: The value is in the communication with residents.  It is a great way for residents to communicate and provide tips to us as well as a great way for our Police Department to mass communicate with residents and ask for their assistance.  It is difficult to place a value on such a tool that will prevent crime or help catch those who have committed crimes, which can save lives and prevent property damage.

Q: Any notable tips/arrests credited to tip411 that come to mind?
Chief Evers: With the help of tip411, we have been able to identify suspects in multiple cases, including thefts and a bank robbery.  By using tip411 to post surveillance images of the suspects to the Police Department Facebook and Twitter pages, we are able to seek assistance from not only our community, but also the entire Dayton area and beyond.  Citizens viewing the post are able to quickly and conveniently submit an anonymous tip using the link provided in our posting.  With the help of those tips, we arrested a purse thief and a serial shoplifter who had stolen TV’s from multiple stores in our city. We also positively identified a bank robber after receiving multiple tips.  In all of these cases, the tips leading to the suspects’ identities have been within one day of our postings, which is a testament to the efficiency and effectiveness of tip411. 

Q: What have you done to promote your tip411 system to make sure residents know about it and use it?
Chief Evers: We use our web page and the quarterly city “In Touch” newsletter that goes out to all of our residents. We also use the customized tip411 flyer, which we distribute at community events.

Q: Any advice for other agencies considering tip411?
Chief Evers: Our agency has found it to be a valuable tool that has aided our efforts to push out important information to the community. The communication and response we have been receiving from the community when we have solicited their help in identifying suspects has been phenomenal and exceeded our expectations.
Manager Landrum: I just know that communication is vital to our residents with all departments and tip411 provides a great tool for the police!

Crime Prevention

tip411 Helps Prevent Bank Robbery, Recover Assault Rifle & Ammunition

At about 8:20pm on 01/31/2018, Wylie, Texas Police received several anonymous tips via tip411 about someone who was planning to rob a bank in Wylie.

The anonymous tipster provided identifying information and enough credibility that police immediately began working the tip.  Wylie Police were able to put information out to local banks in the area and developed a plan to have officers stationed at every bank in town until they could verify the validity of the information.

“This made our banking community feel safe, but also developed a higher level of trust of our organization,” said Wylie Police Lieutenant TJ Walters.

Within 24 hours of the tip, Wylie Police were able to take a male suspect into custody.  They also recovered an AR-15 with multiple 30 round magazines, a pellet gun that looked like a real gun, ammunition, and body armor.  The tip included information that these were the tools the suspect would use to follow through on his plan.

“We have had a couple of other success stories, but this one was certainly worth the share,” said Lieutenant Walters.

Want to learn more about tip411 and how it can help prevent crime in your community? Click here for a free demo of our products.

Atlantic city tip411 anonymous tip

Tip leads to Atlantic City heroin, cocaine arrest, cops say

A city man was arrested Wednesday after officers followed an anonymous tip and found him in possession of 285 bags of heroin and five grams of cocaine, police said.

Farod Chapman, 22, was arrested with 35 bags of heroin and 5 grams of cocaine just after 1 p.m. by Special Investigation Section detectives, police said in a statement.

Detectives recovered 250 more bags of heroin in a search of Chapman’s vehicle after Detective Brian Hambrecht’s K-9 partner Nikki, a narcotic detection dog, indicated the presence of drugs.

Chapman is charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school zone and possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone.

He was released on a summons with a future court date.

Sgt. Richard Andrews and Detective Nick Berardis led the investigation. Detectives received information about Chapman distributing narcotics from tip411, an anonymous text service provider.

Tips can be shared with the Atlantic City Police Department Special Investigations Section to by texting tip411 (847411) or calling 609-347-5858. All texts are anonymous.

Read the full story from the Press of Atlantic City and see the tip411 Alert ACPD sent to residents announcing the arrest.

Fort Myers Police

tip411: You can send tips to Fort Myers Police via app or text

The Fort Myers Police Department launched a new way for people to report non-emergency crimes directly to officers anonymously.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG-Ka9_odSA&w=560&h=315]

The feature, called “Tip411” is part of the department’s revamped website, and comes in the form of an app.

The feature removes all identifying information from the tipster after a tip is submitted to ensure anonymity.

Police said that the feature is not meant to replace an emergency call to 911, but instead will guarantee 100 percent anonymity to anyone wishing to report a crime, danger, or suspicious activity.

Those without a smartphone can still access the feature by sending a tip via text. By texting the keyword, “FMPD” to 847411.

For smartphone users, the app is available for free in the Google Play Store, iTunes app store, or by visiting the Fort Myers Police Department’s website.