Syracuse Police
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New Syracuse Police Phone App Informs About Nearby Crimes, Accepts Anonymous Tips

Can your smart phone make you safer in the City of Syracuse?  Mayor Ben Walsh joined members of the Syracuse Police Department to roll out new technology to help reduce crime and improve community relations. You might have a phone app to find your way around or get a ride, maybe check the weather or play a game. Deputy Chief Joe Cecile wants you to get another app for community benefit.

“Nothing makes it safer, nothing assists with quality of life (more) than collaboration and communication between the residents who live there and the police department.  And that’s what this TIP 411 is going to allow us to do.  We’re going to roll out an app that allows us to communicate and dialogue with the residents throughout the city with everything from crime down to public relations-type events.”

People can download the app on I-Phone or Android smart phones.  Mayor Walsh says it can add some eyes and ears to the police on patrol.

“You may notice a suspicious vehicle in your neighborhood; you may have a vacant house in your neighborhood and you notice some suspicious activity around there, and knowing that I can just pull out my phone.  I can submit a tip to the police department.  The functionality to include a photo is really useful.  So having the app on your phone makes it convenient.”

Tips sent through the app are anonymous.  Authorities say that makes it more useful than texting, where people fear consequences of giving police information.  Police can also use the app to send messages to people about crimes that are going on in their neighborhoods.

Read the full story at WAER.org

Methuen Police Arrest Fugitive
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Methuen Police Arrest Fugitive After 16 Years on the Run Using Tip From Smartphone App

Police on Friday arrested a Methuen man who had been on the run for 16 years.

Eric Rivera-Velez, 39, of Methuen was charged with five active warrants from Massachusetts and New Hampshire for allegations including trafficking 18 kilograms or more of cocaine near a school or park, being a fugitive from justice, and conspiracy to sell a narcotic drug,

Detectives from the Methuen Police Department began an investigation on Jan. 10 after a tip was submitted from their tip411 app about the possible distribution of narcotics at a Methuen residence. On Jan. 12, police spotted Rivera-Velez on Brook Street. He was recognized as one of the people living in the residence from the tip earlier that week, and as a man who had several outstanding warrants.

Rivera-Velez was detained until his identify was verified. He had several outstanding warrants for narcotics offenses in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“A job well done,” said Mayor James Jajuga. “Excellent police work and investigation. I look forward to working more with all of you during my time as mayor. With this arrest, we are off to a great start to 2018.”

Police discovered that Rivera-Velez had several fake names, altered fingerprints, and was listed on Rockingham County’s Most Wanted list in New Hampshire. He’d been wanted by police since 2002.

“A case closed for Rockingham County and a great arrest by detectives,” Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon said. “This arrest goes to show the power of communication with the police, anonymous or otherwise.”

Read the full story from the Eagle-Tribune

Cambridge Alert Network
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Police Use tip411 to Send Alerts to 22,000 Residents in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Despite serving as an important line of communication during violent incidents or big snow events, like last week’s “bomb cyclone,” most of the city’s households are not signed up for the Cambridge Alert Network.

The Cambridge Alert Network is a system of various services including Citizen Observer (tip411), NextDoor and CodeRED. The network sends residents — through text, email or phone — crucial notifications relating to weather, crime, safety, and any other emergency situations.

Citizen Observer (tip411)

As a subscription-based service, Citizen Observer (tip411), a branch of the Alert Network, allows residents to sign up for citywide information on crime for each of the 13 neighborhoods in Cambridge. According to Jeremy Warnick, Cambridge Police Department’s director of communications and media relations, these notifications reach approximately 22,000 subscribers citywide: less than 20 percent of the city’s population.

″[Citizen Observer] is really helpful, particularly with an ongoing criminal manner in which we will provide updates,” Warnick said. “The other component of it is that it also allows us to receive anonymous tips. [The tips] are encrypted so we have no idea who’s on the other side sending those in. It’s a trustworthy way of people submitting information that may help us with an investigation.”

Warnick said the department usually receives multiple crime tips a week through Citizen Observer, and that they often “come in waves.”

Read the full story from the Cambridge Chronicle

Command Staff from Mt. Vernon, NY
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IACP 2017 Recap

We had a great time at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Philadelphia!

As always, it was great to meet old and new customers and talk to them about tip411 Basic, Bundle, and Pro, how they could benefit from our system, and the successes departments (large and small) are having with tip411 across the country.

Command Staff from Mt. Vernon, NY
Captain Smith from US Parks Service
Commissioner Gardner of Yonkers, NY
Chief Tristan of Coppell, Texas
Lt. Musante of Ft. Myers, Florida

This year we had more people stop by our booth than ever before to learn about what we offer, demo our products, and learn about new functionality like tip411 Select that will allow users of our apps to select the language that they want the app to use both for displaying information and submitting tips.

Didn’t make it to IACP this year or have time to talk with us? Click here to schedule a quick demo with a member of our team tp bring our tip411 anonymous tip technology to your community to better engage your residents to help fight crime.

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New app encourages people to anonymously report crime

For Hamden Police, it is another step in helping to bridge the gap between police officers and the communities they protect. A new smartphone app called tip411 lets smartphone users submit crime tips anonymously.

“Often I’ll be in meetings and hear people say like I did yesterday, well, I didn’t want to bother the police. I heard from somebody else well, I want to be anonymous and I didn’t want to get involved so to speak,” said Hamden Chief of Police Thomas Wydra.

 Wydra said the goal of the department is to connect with everyone in the town but realizes certain groups of people are hesitant to engage. Officers believe the app will encourage people to alert them of suspicious activity.

“We wanna reach people who ordinarily might not be willing to engage with us for a variety of reasons. That includes kids, people whose immigration status may be in jeopardy or some other process they don’t want to engage the local police. This is another way for them to reach us,” said Wydra.

Read the full story and see the video from News 8 – WTNH.