Hebron Schools awarded grant for tip411
Safety is a top priority at Hebron Schools. Thanks to Kankakee Valley REMC’s Operation Round Up, Hebron now has one more way to help their students feel safe. The company awarded the a grant school to help cover the costs of an anonymous tip line.
The Hebron Tip411 app allows students to report concerns to administrators and school resource officers without the worry of retaliation. Hebron Middle School Principal Jeff Brooks says, “This empowers students to have a voice in keeping their school a safe place.” Students can send a message through the app or simply text their concerns. The app also allows them to include images and video.
Since the launch in late August, staff and administrators have received over 20 reports that have enabled them to be proactive in preventing student concerns from becoming serious events. Reports on potential bullying, fighting, vaping, drug use, and student welfare are just a few of the tips that have been received by administrators.
“Over half of our tips have included photos or screenshots of the issue being reported,” School Safety Director, Mike Grennes says. The photos and screenshots give administrators an advantage in determining how to track down and handle these concerns.
Wildlife Crime Tips Program Issues Nearly $4,000 in Rewards
It’s a “crime stoppers” program for outdoor sports, issuing rewards for tips related to wildlife offenses. Louisiana Operation Game Thief awarded $3,950 to tipsters across the state at its quarterly meeting on Oct. 2.
LOGT was instituted in 1984 and provides cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of violators of fish and wildlife regulations.
Funds are raised through private donations, court directed contributions and through contributions from cooperative endeavor agreements with organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and Quality Deer Management Association.
Recently, the LOGT board reviewed 12 cases that included public tips from informants. A total of 27 subjects were apprehended and 62 offenses were written for offenses related to deer, migratory game bird, alligator, oyster and fishing cases.
Anyone wishing to report wildlife or fisheries violations — and remain anonymous — should call LDWF’s 24-hour toll free Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-442-2511 or utilize LDWF’s tip411 program. To use the tip411 program, tipsters can text LADWF and their tip to 847411 or download the “LADWF Tips” iPhone and Android apps.
Abbeville Police Department rolls out new app to help fight crime
The Abbeville Police Department has rolled out a new app to aid in fighting crime.
According to the department, the app, Tip 411, will help residents connect with police to find information, view alerts, and submit anonymous tips from their smartphones and devices.
“Only together, can we keep Abbeville safe,” said Chief William Spearman of the Abbeville Police Department. “Working together, we are more likely to make lasting improvements in the safety of our community, I believe the new Abbeville PD app from tip411 will help better connect our department to our residents.”
The new app, according to officials will enable the public to share an anonymous tip with police and let officers respond back to create an anonymous two-way conversation. Residents without a smartphone can share information with police by sending an anonymous text tip via their cell phone to police by texting keyword APDTIPS and their message/tip to 847411 (tip411).
The Abbeville PD app is available for download for free via the Google Play Store, iTunes App Store, by visiting the Abbeville Police Department website at www.abbevillepd.com, or the official Abbeville PD Facebook page .
Fridley police tip app brings uptick in ‘quality of life’ reports
Fridley police have seen an increase in “quality of life” reports since implementing a tip app for smartphones about a year ago, according to Fridley police Capt. Ryan George.
The free app, Tip411, allows people to submit tips to the Police Department completely anonymously. Tip411 was funded in partnership with Fridley Public Schools.
The quality of life tips may be notifying the police of a noisy neighbor or parking problems.
“It seems to be things that are close to the tipsters’ house, so I can see why somebody wouldn’t want to call 911 on their neighbors and give a name and address and all that stuff,” George said. “So we’ve really seen an uptick in those tips lately.”
For those fearing repercussions from calling the police Tip411 can provide peace of mind, according to George.
“They don’t have to live in fear that their neighbor’s going to find out they called 911,” George said. “It’s 100% anonymous. We can’t figure out who the tipster is, even if we try to subpoena the company or get a search warrant for the records. They don’t have it.”
The only people seeing the tip through the app are Fridley Police staff, he said. Staff can engage in dialogue with tipsters to get more details if necessary.
Tip411 has been useful during times when police ask for the public’s help identifying someone or with anything related to a crime, George said. Users can send police any information they have through the app.
The anonymous app is useful for Fridley students as well, George said. If students hear a classmate threatening to hurt themselves or other people, they could anonymously report those threats to the police through the app.
Fridley Public Schools initially wanted to collaborate with the Police Department a few years ago, Fridley Public Schools director of communications and community relations Jael McLemore said.
“Tragic events can be prevented if they are reported to law enforcement ahead of time, and resources such as (Tip411) provide an additional layer to regular reporting channels, such as 911, that community members can use,” McLemore said.
In addition to the Tip411 app, she said, students have access to counselors and other school staff members if anything needs to be reported to keep schools safe.
“We really don’t want to miss an opportunity to partner if that helps enhance safety, if that helps increase security for our staff, our students and our buildings,” McLemore said.
Police are able to push notifications out to people’s phones as well. If there’s a street blocked off or an accident to report, police can tell the community through the app, so users are in the know if there are any major incidents.
Fridley residents can download the app through their phones’ app stores by searching Fridley PD Tip411.