The University of Wyoming is launching an anonymous text tip program that will help create a safer community. Tip411 is an Internet-based tool that enables the public to text message anonymous tips to the university police and lets police respond, creating a two-way anonymous chat.
Reserved exclusively for public safety purposes and powered by CitizenObserver, a St. Paul, Minn., company, tip411 puts a powerful new crime fighting tool in the hands of the UW community.
"We're pleased to be part of a national program that benefits more than a thousand communities around the country," UW Police Chief Troy Lane says. "This new capability will help our residents play an active role in keeping the community safer, it will engage a younger demographic in the process, and it will save our agency time and resources."
Anyone with a cell phone can now send an anonymous tip to the UW Police Department by texting Uwyo and the tip information to 847411 (tip411).
Anonymous web tips can also be submitted directly from the police department's website at www.uwyo.edu/UWPD.
It's 100 percent anonymous. CitizenOberserver's technology removes all identifying information before the police department sees it so there's no way to identify the sender.
Lane says this capability is effective in reaching out to younger members of the community.
"When someone feels afraid to come forward or feels like not getting involved, this can be a great way to pass information without fear of retribution."
