By Lance Benzel, The Gazette
Original publication date: Feb. 3

Colorado Springs, Colo. — That’s the message from Colorado Springs police, who are asking the public to send text messages as part of a new crime-fighting tip service.

To submit information, you must include the letters “CSPD” in the body of the text and send details of your tip to TIP411, or 847411. Police provided the following sample message: “CSPD, the suspect in your recent bank robbery is Joe Smith who lives at 123 Main St.”

“CSPD” need not be in all capital letters.

Tipsters will remain anonymous, police said.

Anonymity is part of the terms of the Police Department’s contract with Citizen Observer, the St. Paul, Minn.-based company whose software will sort the texts, scramble the sender’s phone number and then relay the messages to police dispatchers, said police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt.

Detectives will run down the leads the same way they do tips from CrimeStoppers and other sources, police said.

The system will allow police to ask the tipster follow-up questions through TIP411 without ever identifying the tipster.

Police paid $5,400 for a two-year contract. The department expects to receive up to 40 tips a month, based on how the tip service is performing in other cities, Noblitt said.

“We’re thinking 30 or 40 new opportunities to solve a crime is a pretty good deal,” he said.

An online version will allow people to send tips through the Police Department’s Facebook.com account and its city-run website, also anonymously.

The tip service follows the Police Department’s earlier forays into Facebook.com and Twitter.

A word to the wise: Don’t text the police while driving. It’s illegal.

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