Boston Police Dept. announces first-ever text messaging tip line
by Russell Shaw
In “Aqualung,” Jethro Tull sang about a weird guy hanging out by the playground, “eyeing little girls with bad intent.”
Now, with a new program that kicked off in Boston today, kids much like the ones being eyed with bad intent can text-message a cop to let them know about that weird guy by the playground.
That’s because Boston is now the first city in the nation to give it citizens the ability to submit an anonymous tip from their mobile phone via text messaging.
The initiative, which is actually part of the city’s Crime Stoppers campaign, was announced today and is already in place. It is being offered by VeriSign, in collab. with the City of Boston and the Boston Police Department.
“The city’s anonymous tip line is safe, secure and effective – but far too underutilized,†said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Today, we’re launching a major effort to revitalize this valuable tool with new energy, new purpose, new technology, and new advertising.â€
Officials say anonymous text capability is being added because the communications channel is familiar to kids. And as you know, some kids who might be freaked about talking to a stranger (like a big, grown up detective, you know).
VeriSign powers the Boston Crime Stoppers text messaging platform, provisioned the C-R-I-M-E short code, and manages the system’s easy-to-use user interface. Despite its back-end complexities, for citizens the system is as simple as texting the word “tip” to C-R-I-M-E (27463).
The information received will be channeled to a police department interface. The VeriSign system masks all personal identifiable information (e.g. mobile phone numbers) before sending any text messaged information to the police department.
Once communication is established, the Boston Police Department can immediately exchange messages with the tipster to obtain information about the crime and the details necessary to respond rapidly.
Boston will be blanketed by a pro-bono campaign to help drive acceptance of this service.
