Category: In The News

The Forest Lake Police Department is increasing its crime fighting arsenal with a new app to help residents connect with the department to find information, view alerts, and submit anonymous tips from their smartphones. 

“Our department has a strong partnership with the citizens in our community,” Director of Public Safety Richard Peterson said. “I have found that the more information we can provide to the citizens, the more they help us keep Forest Lake a safe and good place to live, and that’s why I believe the new Forest Lake PD app from tip411 will help enhance our ability to engage our community.” 

The Forest Lake PD app enables the public to share an anonymous tip with police and lets officers respond back to create a two-way conversation. The app and its tip411 text-a-tip system are completely anonymous, as the technology removes all identifying information before police see the tips and there is no way to identify the sender. 

According to Detective Nancy Carlson from the Forest Lake Police Department, tip411 is used by many law enforcement agencies across the nation.

“After researching the program and its capabilities, we knew it would be beneficial for our department to use in collecting information that some would not normally feel comfortable in sharing due to lack of anonymity,” Carlson said. “Tip411 first reached out to us with information on their program, what they have to offer, how it has been used and what has come from its use. They took the time to sit some of us down and go over the program step by step so we could see all of it firsthand. They work with many agencies and have a lot of success stories from its use, so we knew it would be beneficial to our community.”

According to Carlson, the Forest Lake Police Department plans to use it to put out press releases, important community information, community engagement event notifications, as well as taking in crime related or crime prevention tips from the public. Tips come in and are viewed by a select number of officers. They are then assigned to and  followed-up by the appropriate staff member. Officers are able to give updates to tipsters as well if needed.

“The tip form we were previously using was not user-friendly and therefore did not produce a lot of helpful information. Tip411 is extremely user-friendly and is available at the touch of a button on any smartphone once the app is downloaded,” Carlson said. “We also plan to promote this program to the students, parents, guardians and staff in the Forest Lake Area School District as another tool to keep our schools and our community safe. We hope this will be a great tool to use to connect further with our youth to feel more comfortable to engage with law enforcement to voice their concerns.”

Read the full story from the Forest Lake Times

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department announced a new smartphone tool on Tuesday. The app allows people to check for updates, view alerts and submit anonymous tips.

Developed by tip411, the “MontgomeryCo Sheriff app” puts a powerful new crime-fighting tool into the hands of community members of all ages. The app is available for download for free via the Google Play Store, iTunes App Store, or by visiting the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office website.

The app and tip411 text a tip system are 100% anonymous, as the technology removes all identifying information before deputies see the tips and there is no way to identify the sender.

Residents can also submit an anonymous tip by texting MCSONY and their message/tip
to 847411. Anonymous web tips can also be submitted through the department’s website.

Read the full story from News10.

The Farmville Police Department is pleased to announce the start of TIP411.  This is a cell phone and web-based application that allows citizens to anonymously report tips to the department. Often, the ability to solve crimes depends a great deal upon the involvement of the citizens.  By embracing new technologies, we are working to proactively enhance those lines of communication between the community and the police department.  In addition to anonymously providing information to assist with solving crimes, you can even attach photographs and videos after you submit an initial tip.

Please be assured that all information provided when you submit a tip is kept strictly confidential.  When you submit a tip, it is sent to a third party tip service, which acts as a privacy buffer between you and the Farmville Police Department. Your identity is protected, as well as your contact information. 

Read the full story from The Southside Messenger

The Stark County Crime Stoppers nonprofit has rolled out a new crime-reporting system that will put the power of reporting a crime anonymously into the hands of the public.

“Our mission is to keep the community safe and gather any information we can to help solve crime,” Ferrero said in a news release. “We believe the new StarkCo Crime Stoppers app from tip411 will make it easier for residents to contact law enforcement with information to help keep their community safe.”

The city of Canton has had a Tip411 line for six years. The company that handles Canton’s tipline is also the same company that handles the county’s new service.

Now the county Crime Stoppers group, spearheaded by Ferrero’s office, has a Tip411 line covering the entire county, although the service will also accept tips for crimes that involve the city, Ferrero said.

“We did the research. There are over 1,500 communities in the United States that have Crime Stopper programs and most of them tip411 systems that have been very beneficial to helping law enforcement receive tips on crimes,” Ferrero said.

Tipsters need only download the free StarkCo Crime Stoppers app via Google Play Store or iTunes App Store on their smartphones. They can also send text messages to the Crime Stoppers website.

Although they won’t know who they’re talking to because the technology removes all tipster information except for a number, the officers can respond to the tipster via the tip411 system to create an anonymous two-way conversation.

“We’ve listened to feedback from partners like Stark County Crime Stoppers and have built a more advanced and innovative product to help law enforcement better engage their communities,” said tip411 President Terry Halsch in the news release. “The StarkCo Crime Stoppers app powered by will greatly improve the public’s access to safety alerts, social media channels, important information, and more to help fight crime.”

The tips or information should be about crimes that have already occurred.

“Now, if a citizen sees a crime in progress, they should call 911. That’s important. Don’t waste time calling tip411 on a crime that’s already in progress. Hurry up and call 911,” the prosecutor said.

Police won’t know who is calling.

“We don’t know the phone number, we don’t know the IP address,” Ferrero said, noting that the information is “all anonymous because a lot of people are hesitant, perhaps out of fear of retaliation, or they just don’t want to get involved.”

Police would rather have the information than know who’s giving it because they simply want to solve the crime.

Tipsters can not only submit information about crime, they can also check to see whether a case has been resolved and whether they qualify for reward money, he said.

Reward money amounts are determined by the Crime Stoppers Board of Trustees. The higher the visibility of the crime, the larger the reward, he said.

To send a message to the county’s tip411 program, Ferrero said tipsters should download the app, text the keyword “STARKTIP” to 847411, add a space and then type in the tip information.

Then, he said, click on the word “send.”

The prosecutor said that with the nationwide slowdown currently in progress due to the coronavirus precautions, make this an excellent time to visit the website at starkcrimestoppers.com and download the app.

“It’s really helpful. Everything we can say in our reporting to the public is there,” he said.

Read the full story from CantonRep.com