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Police agencies launch app to get anonymous tips [Tampa Tribune, Fla.](Tampa Tribune (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 25--TAMPA -- See someone acting suspiciously or drinking underage? Want to report someone who parked illegally? Pick up your smart phone. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office recently launched Tip411, a free smartphone app that allows users to text in crime tips to the agency's dispatch center. In the two weeks since the sheriff's office made the program available, dozens of anonymous tips have come in already about abandoned cars, people living in vacant houses and doors that were left open overnight at businesses. "This is really our first crack at a smartphone app," said master deputy Jerry Carey, who helped with the launch. "We've been very pleased with how well it's been received and the amount of tips and types of information that's been coming into us." Through the app, which is available for both iPhone and Android, tipsters can text and send photos and videos of anything they think law enforcement should know about, Carey said. Tips are routed to 911 dispatchers, who monitor the app 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Tipsters aren't required to share their location or any personal information. Dispatchers can communicate with them directly if necessary by texting back through the app. The app isn't meant to replace 911 in an emergency situation, but the sheriff's office wanted to be able to communicate in a different way with the citizens it protects, Carey said. "It really brings traditional law enforcement into something that's very user friendly and easy to connect with the people we want to hear from," Carey said. Law enforcement agencies across the country have increasingly been using smartphone apps as a way to communicate with and be more accessible to the communities they serve. The Tampa Police Department launched its own app in 2013. The Pasco and Pinellas sheriff's offices also have apps. Tip411 was developed by Minnesota-based developer Citizen Observer several years ago, said Terry Halsch, president of the company. About 1,200 agencies across the country use it, with more adding it to their services every day, he said. "It works everywhere," he said. "From a little tiny county up to Hillsborough County and from the San Francisco Police Department down to smaller communities." It has been a huge success for many law enforcement agencies, Halsch said. The St. Petersburg Police Department announced this week that it has launched its own Tip411 app as part of a $100,000 technology upgrade. The Clearwater Police Department also has the app and has been using it for several years. Tips received by Clearwater police increased by about 150 percent the first year the Tip411 was available there, said Major David Dalton. Department officials liked the app so much they expanded the Tip411 program to include a reverse 911 feature so the agency can send out crime alerts to people who have signed up to the message list. "It's a tremendously valuable program," Dalton said. Clearwater police have gotten tips on "everything from barking dogs to homicide cases," he said. "In this age of technology and texting, I think that it certainly is another means to reach out to the community that's more comfortable in that environment," Dalton said. The younger generation is just one of the groups the app will appeal to, Carey said. For instance, Carey said, deputies often hear about students taking photos or videos of fights at school and posting them online. A student could share that footage through Tip411 to help investigators figure out what happened. "It's just convenient," Carey said. "It's easy for someone to just type up a quick tip and route it to us." And deputies aren't picky about what information comes through. "Whatever's on their mind that they want to share with us, we're eager to hear about it," Carey said. [email protected] (813)259-7691 Twitter: @LizBehrmanTBO ___ (c)2014 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at www.tampatrib.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |