In October 2014, the Lewisville Police Department partnered with Citizen Observer to launch the anonymous crime tip service Tip411. Using the service, residents can anonymously report crime tips and information to the department using text messages or by downloading the free Android or Apple TipLPD app for their smartphones.
Read the full story from the Lewisville Leader
Onondaga County has a new way to reach your local police with a crime tip — without revealing who you are.
There are three ways to do it: You can text TIP411. You can download the county’s TIP411 mobile app on iPhone or Android. Or you can find the Onondaga County Crime Tips Facebook page. (You don’t need to log into Facebook to submit a tip.)
You could be witnessing a violent crime or a suspicious person or something else that police should know about.
All police agencies countywide — from college public safety officers to sheriff’s deputies — can now be reached at any time with a TIP411 text, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick announced today. (Some of the smaller departments are not staffed 24 hours.)
Even better, on-duty officers will get text alerts immediately. Law enforcement can text back with questions. You can send videos and photos from the scene.
If you see something, text something.
That’s the aim with a new secure messaging smartphone app developed by Tip 411 for the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.
The free app is called ‘CCPOTIP,’ and it gives both Android and iPhone users the ability to report tips and crimes anonymously and directly to authorities.
“The public is our greatest law enforcement resource,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a news release. “Our new CCPOTIP app will help our residents play a more active role in keeping Cumberland County safe.”
Officials plan to unveil the app at a news conference Wednesday morning at the Vineland Police Department.
The app allows users to share tips on public safety, crime or any suspicious activities with police by submitting a secure message.
A suburban drug task force is the latest Minnesota law enforcement agency to use texting and mobile apps to attract would-be tipsters.
Last week, the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force activated its “SWMTip” app, powered by St. Paul-based technology company tip411, for residents to submit anonymous tips and photos from their smartphones.
Phil Nawrocki, a Scott County Sheriff’s Office commander, said the first tip arrived within a day of launching the app. The task force joined more than 30 other Minnesota agencies using tip411 after noting how often it gathered information from mobile photos or text messages, Nawrocki said.
“Rather than have the individual go back home, sit down and try to find our e-mail address and contact info, they have a cellphone in their hand that can directly send confidential information to us,” Nawrocki said.
The Southwest Metro Drug Task Force covers Scott, Carver and McLeod counties as well as the cities of Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Tonka Bay.
Tip411’s apps keep tipsters anonymous by assigning them a six-character alias to be used when communicating with authorities, said tip411 President Terry Halsch. The company also has a “text-a-tip” system that is used by roughly 1,400 agencies around the country, he said.
Jeff Johnson speaks with Becky Ford and Denise Reese with the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition about tip411.
