The Canadian Crime Stoppers Association has this week revealed that it is turning to the advances of technology to help increase its effectiveness in clamping down on criminal activity across the country.
Canadians use text-based tip service to provide police with crime-solving information. Image: Shazron/Flickr.
While relying on phone tips has long been a way for police authorities to track, prevent, stop and solve crime, the Crime Stoppers Association believes that the advent of convenient text messaging has led to the younger generation not being quite so willing to actually dial and talk when they can let their fingers do the talking.
The association has therefore moved to widen its scope of communication by introducing the Text Tips program, a new text-based tipster system that provides senders with complete anonymity in return for helpful information.
Already a communication tool used in the United States for the past year, Canadian police forces are hoping to garner greater instances of operational success by tapping into the information flow available through the country’s massive text messaging community.
“Most of today’s youth are using their cell phones or PDAs to communicate, as opposed to talking,” commented Reg Parkin, chairman of Crime Stoppers (Winnipeg). “This is an easier way for them to get that information to us.”
According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Canadian mobile phone users dispatched more than 10 billion text messages in 2007, which stands as a sizeable 133 percent jump when compared with the figure from 2006. In terms of daily dispatch, Canadians reportedly send approximately 40 million texts each day.
Text messages sent into Crime Stoppers are processed by the police, who are able to respond directly by text should they need to ask any questions. The identity of the sender will remain unknown throughout the process thanks to them being issued with an encrypted alias.
Those vigilant residents of Winnipeg looking to make a contribution to Text Tips can do so by typing “TIP170” on the message header before dispatching it to CRIMES (274637). Or, they can actually call 786-8477 for the 24-hour hotline.
The program has also been similarly rolled out in Moose Jaw (SK) this week, and residents there can contribute by typing “TIP193” into their message header before sending to CRIMES (273637). Standard rates apply in both cases.
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