Detective hopes teens catch ‘text fever’ for crime tips

The future of crime-fighting may lie in a simple act that millions of adults, teens and even kids engage in every day: text messaging.

Having the ability to send an anonymous text message crime tip to local police may not seem like a big deal to today’s teens, many of whom have mastered the art of texting while they’re talking, walking and driving.

But it’s a relatively new addition to local Crimestoppers programs across the country, including the Mitchell Police Division. A campaign to convince the local public to text crime tips is aimed at anyone who texts — in particular, middle- and high-schoolers.

The Mitchell Area Crimestoppers spent $1,200 getting the TipSoft SMS software up and running this spring. Just a handful of text tips have been reported since late March, but officers are confident the technology will catch on, as soon as the public realizes the power a text message can have, and the protection they are afforded as tipsters.

According to Detective Lt. Don Everson, there’s even talk in the law enforcement world of text message tips being used to help prevent the next school shooting.

Talk about power.

“It seems to be the wave of communication right now,” Everson said. “I think kids nowadays are more likely to text than they are to pick up the phone and call somebody.”

The Mitchell Area Crimestoppers is currently working on an advertising campaign to help promote the new feature to kids. One plan involves distributing lanyards with “text-a-tip” info and Crimestoppers’ contact information in Mitchell schools this fall.

Texting a crime tip is simple. First, compose a text message to the number 274637 (on most phones, this spells “CRIMES”). Begin the message with “MITCS,” followed by the tip. The software encrypts the text message and routes it through several secure servers, protecting the personal details of the informant. Rather than receiving the texter’s phone number when the message comes in, police receive a random number/letter combination that identifies the texter.

People can send in visuals, too.

“They can send us a picture of the bad guy — his car, his house — if they want to,” Everson said. “It’s just a neat deal.”

Before, Crimestoppers’ only avenue of receiving communication was through the phone line, and that was only manned during normal Monday through Friday business hours. Now a tip can be given 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Sometimes people don’t know what to do. This is a good way for people to give information without suffering the consequences, basically. To do the right thing and get rewarded,” Everson said.

Crimestoppers offers rewards for tips leading to arrests. If the tip is for one of the high-profile crimes of the week, tipsters receive $250. All payouts are made anonymously.

According to Everson, Crimestoppers’ success is largely dependent on the public. In Mitchell alone, at least a dozen phone tips led to arrests in 2008, including the theft of former U.S. Sen. George McGovern’s car.

“We can’t solve crimes without help from the public,” Everson said. “I think we’re limited without it.”

Bogus information is a potential downfall, Everson said, but it’s not necessarily more likely to happen than it would with a phoned-in tip.

And if an officer has any doubts or follow-up questions, all he or she has to do is text back.

“Now we can just chat back and forth, and somebody else thinks they’re talking to their friend or whatever,” Everson said. “If we forget to ask a question, guess what? We just respond with it.”

Web tipping is another new option. Tipsters can navigate to an online form to make a report to police and be as specific — or vague — as they want about a crime or suspect, including information on scars and tattoos, weapons owned, hangouts and known associates.

There’s no statute of limitations on the length of time since a crime happened, either, Everson said.

“We could potentially solve serious crimes that happened two or three years ago,” he said. “Someone could be in Alaska and give us a Web tip. It’s neat.”

Online tips can be made at the Mitchell Area Crimestoppers’ Web site at www.mitchellcrimestoppers.o rg.

Everson is confident the new technology will catch on. An estimated 363 billion text messages were sent in 2007, according to CTIA, the Washington, D.C.-based wireless industry association.

“We know it’s a powerful tool,” Everson said. “We think it’s the future of crime reporting.”

Tags: news, local, crimestoppers