If you see a crime in progress or need to report an emergency, please call 911.

IMPORTANT:

Text Tip397 plus your tip
TO: CRIMES (274637)

(The video below starts the tip information with Tip100. Tip397 should be used instead)

PLEASE USE Tip397 as Agency ID.
Start tip information with Tip397.

Example:
Tip397 John Doe is selling drugs at this specific location

Instructions on how to send an anonymous text tip:

Select text “Messaging” or “SMS” (short messaging service) on your phone’s main menu.

Create (compose) a new message, beginning with the keyword Tip397 (not case sensitive) in the body of the message.

Send the message to the short code of 274637 (Crimes)
Your initial submission will trigger an auto response from the secure transaction server. You will receive brief notes and a unique code number to that response. You must remember this code number, as it cannot be retrieved later.

You and the Crime Stoppers coordinator may elect to engage in secure and encrypted two-way dialog at this time with no additional keywords being required to communicate with the system.

You can text STOP to the short code 274637 (CRIMES) at any time to rest the system where you cannot be replied to by Crime Stoppers. If you do not send STOP any further text messages from the same phone do not get a reply but are received. Any new text messages would require the Tip397 keyword again and would be assigned a new code number by the system.

Standard text messaging rates may apply.

How Your Identity Is Kept Secret

The technology used to keep tipsters anonymous while sending Text Tips to Police is called Tipsoft. This technology strips the identifying information of the tipster away from the tip so the identity of the tipster remains secret.

A multiple code number approach is used to accomplish this.

The identitying information of the tipster is encrypted and stripped from the tip by an independent Canadian company and assigned a unique code number. The tip is immediately forwarded to Tipsoft's secure server in the United States. Tipsoft assigns a second unique code number to the tip and delivers it to the appropriate law enforcement agency for follow-up.

A unique code number assigned to the tipster is sent back to the tipster. The tipster and Police can communicate by texting back and forth. The tipster is anonymous the entire time they are communicating with the officers.

Just How Secure Is Tipsoft?

Anytime the tipster accesses the WebTip form, the connection to the Tipsoft server is done through a secure socket which forces 128 bit encryption of the tip information passing through that connection. The identity of these connections are, by design, not being logged by the Tipsoft server. When a tip is submitted, the data is immediately encrypted with an AES 256 bit algorithm.

Tipsoft has taken great measures to insure the WebTip routine is as secure as possible and that the tipster's identity is not traceable. To date, the processes Tipsoft is using have not been compromised and the encryption algorithms used are the same as those used by the banking industry and governments worldwide on a daily basis.

Tipsoft's transaction server is audited daily by ScanAlert, the world's largest and most prominent server security auditing firm and any potential vulnerabilities are immediately flagged and addressed if found. This level of auditing insures compliance with some of the highest levels of security possible. Through ScanAlert, Tipsoft's server is certified Secure & Hacker Safe and is fully compliant with the following server security standards:
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA)
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
Government Information Security Reform Act (GISRA)
Gramm Leach Bailey Act (GLBA)
Statement on Auditing Standards Number 70 (SAS-70)
International Standards Organization (ISO) 17799
Europe's EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC
Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
U.S. Department of Homeland Security's published recommendations

ANDERSON SOFTWARE, LLC

Kevin Anderson of Anderson Software is the owner and developer of Tipsoft. Kevin has been continuously improving the tip management capabilities of Tipsoft for approximately ten years and hundreds of thousands of tips have been managed by Tipsoft during that time. Tipsoft's ability to collect anonymous Web Tips is three years old. Thousands of Web Tips have successfully been delivered to Police while keeping the identity of the tipster secret. Tipsoft's ability to collect anonymous Text Tips began in January of 2008. Kevin has worked with Crime Stoppers at the local, state, national and international level for ten years and is the two-time recipient of the Crime Stoppers International President’s award for his technical contribution to the Crime Stoppers mission.