Tipsters texting police
- TAGS:law, police, text messaging
- IT TOPICS:Emerging Technology, Security
I like it when I hear about organizations and agencies that adopt practices that are used by increasing numbers of people in our society. It makes them seem more connected and accessible to the public at large. Take for instance, text messaging. I know quite a few folks (youth mostly) who are seldom separated from their text messaging devices - be they phones, PDAs, laptops, etc. That's the generation police departments are turning to when it comes to texted crime tips.
Jessie Halladay's USA Today article "Police use texting for crime tips" points out how the Boston PD now extensively promotes the use of texting for people who want to send crime tips to the department (note that the Boston's was the first police department to use texting and has been using it since June, 2007). It seems lots of other police departments across the country are coming aboard as well. Texting is just another method for people to report crimes and the fact that texting can be done silently (and in many cases anonymously) may perhaps encourage people to inform on criminals whereas they might not otherwise. I'm sure not many law abiding citizens would argue with that.
Free Insider Guide