Police Are Seeking the '411' on Crimes Through Anonymous Text Messages
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Monday, July 21, 2008
The D.C. police department has a new number for people with leads about crimes: 50411, set up to handle anonymous text messages.
In a city where witnesses often are reluctant to come forward for fear of retaliation, Chief Cathy L. Lanier is hoping to get information about homicides, robberies and other crimes any way she can. And so the District is following the lead of Boston, Seattle and other cities in offering text messaging as an alternative to phone calls.
"I'm 40 years old, and I love text messaging," Lanier said. "It's a really quick, cool, easy way to communicate, and if I don't tap into those people, I'm shooting myself in the foot."
The District is working with GoLiveMobile!, a Colorado-based company, to provide the service. The FBI is covering the cost.
Police departments use a variety of numbers for their text tip lines. In Fairfax County, people are asked to text tips to CRIMES (274637) and include "TIP187" in the body of the message.
In the District, the number 50411 was chosen because "putting the 5-0 to the 411" is street slang for communicating with the police, Lanier said.
GoLiveMobile! provides servers that get the text tips for the District. The company conceals the phone number of the tipster before passing the message on to police, preserving anonymity. Within two seconds, the messages go to a police officer.
The department rolled out the program this spring and have gotten about 35 tips so far, officials said.
"We get detailed messages from people after a shooting or homicide like, 'Kevin Smith who lives on Brown Street was responsible for the shooting,' " Lanier said, making up the name and address to illustrate the kind of tips coming in.
Many other cities run text message programs through their branches of Crime Stoppers USA, a police-community partnership that offers rewards for information. Nearly 70 Crime Stoppers units at police stations across the country participate in text programs.
In the District, the police department runs the initiative. The District offers rewards for information that leads to arrests and convictions for many crimes. In addition to sending text messages, people can telephone tips to the D.C. Crime Solvers program at 800-673-2777 or to detectives at 202-727-9099.
Boston police were at the forefront of the text message movement, starting a program in June 2007. The first tip they received led to an arrest for a homicide in New Hampshire, officials said. The department has also received useful tips about drug deals, with texters sending license plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles and dealers, they said.
