TIPS uses texting to report crimes
Teens face a plethora of challenges, one being how to step in when they see a friend or classmate engaging in harmful or dangerous behavior. A new anonymous reporting tool seeks to make that process easier.
The Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office has teamed up with Community Voices and Healthy Maine Partnerships, Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention to launch TIPS, a program which allows community members to notify police via text about underage drinking, drug use and a range of other crimes.
By texting to 538-TIPS, users can contact the Sheriff’s Office, who will dispatch the information to the appropriate agency, whether a police department or a countywide or state agency.
Currently, tipsters can call agencies, tweet or message on Facebook. The text tip line seeks to provide another means of reporting, one that is important here in the County.
“There are many areas where cell coverage is poor to make a call, or to get online and access other means of submitting a tip,” said Michelle Plourde Chasse, project manager of Community Voices. “Texting can be done from most anywhere, discreetly, anonymously, whether from a remote area, pit party, camp, apartment, wherever. It’s easy.
“Teens worry about their peers’ behavior and safety, and we know that 83 percent of Aroostook students do not worry about police catching them in illegal activity. 538-TIPS can help,” Chasse said.
When users submit information by text message, it triggers an exchange with the Sheriff’s Office. The dispatcher typically would ask for specifics about the location of the violation and the people involved, but the tipster’s name and telephone number remain anonymous.
“We hope that 538-TIPS will serve as a message for our young people that we are concerned about their safety and want to make it easier for anyone, anywhere to report underage drinking and drug use,” said Sheriff Darrell Crandall. “It’s not about ratting people out. It’s about providing an opportunity to easily report information.”
The sheriff continued, “Aroostook teens are drinking at a higher rate than elsewhere in the state. This is an opportunity to reduce that, and keep our kids safe. We need to shift the mindset that we’re getting kids in trouble by reporting them, to ‘We’re keeping them safe.’”
The text tip line is being initiated with a focus on underage drinking and substance abuse, though it can be used by anyone to report virtually any kind of criminal or unsafe activity.
