|
Send crime tips via the Web, text
Jul 02, 2009 (The Commercial Appeal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Dropping a dime on a crime suspect no longer requires a telephone conversation.
Beginning Wednesday, CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County started receiving citizens' tips via the Web and by way of text message in addition to the traditional phoned-in tip.
The expanded CrimeStoppers program also will allow police officers who receive a message at the Memphis Police Department Real Time Crime Center to engage in two-way communications with the tipster, seeking further information.
The information transfers, like the tips that come over the telephone, are guaranteed to remain anonymous.
"This is one of the biggest breakthroughs in our history," said CrimeStoppers executive director E. Winslow "Buddy" Chapman.
"It has always been incumbent on us to make reporting a tip as easy as possible, while always maintaining anonymity," he said. "We must guarantee that no one will ever know the identity of the person contacting us with information."
The CrimeStoppers board of directors approved spending the funds to subscribe to new information management software offered by Anderson Software, a Texas company doing business with more than two dozen CrimeStoppers organizations.
When someone texts a tip message, the automated system called TipSoft sends an immediate reply that includes a special code, unique to the tipster. This takes place as a computer server in Canada strips all identifying information from the digital communication. Canada is immune from disclosure requirements, Chapman said.
Joining Chapman in announcing the new technology Wednesday were Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell and Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons.
Chapman also detailed the simultaneous marketing campaign launch to tell the public about the options for texting and Web mailing tips.
Ads will run on MATA buses and other venues, and informational cards will be distributed.
-- Chris Conley: 529-2595
Crime Tip choices
There are now three ways for the public to transmit tips to CrimeStoppers:
Send a text message by typing the word "Award" and a short message to CRIMES (or 274637).
Relay your information via the Web by visiting a special CrimeStoppers site at 528CASH.org. Click on the "submit a tip online" space.
Of course, the traditional telephone line remains open at 528-CASH (2274).
To see more of The Commercial Appeal or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.commercialappeal.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Commercial Appeal,
Memphis, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To it.tmcnet.com's Homepage ]
|