KY Fish and Wildlife App Fighting Crime Tip411
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New app helping Kentucky conservation officers fight crimes

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is using a new tool to fight crimes.

Nearly two weeks ago the department launched a new smartphone app where people can submit tips anonymously.

“Up to this point we’ve received about 100 tips and about 1,000 downloads of the app,” said Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Chief Communications Officer Kevin Kelly.

When you open the app and select the “new tip” option, you can then write in a subject line, description and fill in the location. You can even take a photo or video to send in showing conservation officers what you’re seeing.

“We’ve received complaints about trespassing, we’ve also received tips about hunters taking more than one buck, so we have a one buck rule here in Kentucky. And then also harvesting deer from roadways which is not allowed,” said Kelly.

Modern gun deer hunting season just began in Kentucky, and officials also want to remind people that it’s illegal to bring deer or elk carcasses across state lines. The reason behind that rule is to prevent the spread of disease.

If you see someone driving carcasses into Kentucky from out-of-state, you can report that through the app too.

LEX 18 talked with a local hunter who said it sometimes can be hard to get in touch with a conservation officer or game warden, and he thinks this is a big step in the right direction.

“Say if someone’s doing something wrong you could just be like ‘hey you might want to come check this out.’ I just think it’d be a great idea,” said Colby Brown from Rockcastle County.

The KFWLaw app is available for download in the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store.

The app is free, and once you have it open, select “new tip” on the app home screen to send in information.

Read the full story from LEX18.com

Keep our Woods & Waters Safe
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Kentucky Fish and Wildlife debuts crime-fighting app

Need to report suspected illegal activity related to fish, wildlife or boating to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources?

Now, there’s an app for that.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has partnered with tip411 to offer the public a way to submit anonymous tips using the new KFWLaw smartphone app or by text message and the web. Similar technology has helped reduce crime in communities nationwide.

“Through these new channels, the public can report crimes or suspicious activity anonymously and in real-time directly to Kentucky’s conservation officers,” said Col. Eric Gibson, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s Law Enforcement Division director. “It’s crime fighting the 21st Century way.”

The free KFWLaw app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. Links to the stores also are posted on the department’s website.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted from non-smartphones with texting capability. Text the keyword “KFWLAW” along with your message or tip to 847411 (tip411).

Whether using the app or texting tips via a non-smartphone, the technology removes all identifying information before officers see the tips. There is no way to identify the sender.

These new features supplement the department’s longtime tip line, 1-800-25-ALERT. In an emergency, or when there is an urgent need for law enforcement, calling 9-1-1 remains the best course of action.

Kentucky’s conservation officers are sworn law enforcement officers with statewide jurisdiction but a primary mission focus on hunting, fishing and boating enforcement.

In their everyday role, conservation officers ensure compliance with hunting and fishing laws and ensure that the state’s waterways are a safe place for all to enjoy by utilizing a two-pronged approach consisting of education and enforcement.

Read the full story from the Northern Kentucky Tribune

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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.

Read the story from BossierNow.com

Man kills great white
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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

Talk or text to turn in poachers
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Talk or text to turn in poachers

Since the passage of Amendment 75, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has made it a priority to increase the amount of enforcement in every county of The Natural State. Each county has at least two officers assigned to patrol its woods and waters, and officers work together to target heavily used areas during certain times of the year. But with all these added men and women, the AGFC has only 180 wildlife officers when at full staff.

With only 180 wildlife officers to cover more than 3.4 million acres of hunting and fishing area in Arkansas, the deck may seem stacked in favor of poachers. Thanks to concerned sportsmen and sportswomen who care about Arkansas’s natural resources, the AGFC continues to make a strong statement to people who try to skirt the law and ignore wildlife regulations.

Anyone who witnesses a wildlife violation is encouraged to call the AGFC via telephone at 800-482-9262 to turn in the violator.

“We make a lot of cases thanks to tips from concerned citizens,” said Major Jason Parker with the AGFC. “Some of the contacts are even made by friends and family members of the people being reported.”

The AGFC’s radio room is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to receive calls about poaching. They can inform a local officer, who will get back in touch with the contact.

“We keep all sources anonymous if they wish, and we do offer rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading the arrest of some violators,” Parker said.

If someone doesn’t want to talk over the phone, they still can report a violation anonymously, using the AGFC’s Text a Tip service. To send the anonymous tip via text message, text “AGFC,” followed by the tip to TIP411 (847411). You will then receive a thank-you text acknowledging that the text has been received. CitizenObserver, the TIP411 provider, uses technology that removes all identifying information before the AGFC receives the text so that the AGFC cannot identify the sender.

Read the story from KAIT-TV