Coatesville police unveil app for tips

(This story is out of the Mercury's coverage area, but this is an interesting initiative from the Coatesville Police Department. Do you think a mobile phone app for anonymous crime tips would work in Pottstown?)


By: Michael N. Price
mprice@dailylocal.com 

COATESVILLE — The city’s police department unveiled a modernized anonymous tip system this week in an effort to improve the department’s communication with residents, especially those from younger generations.

Residents may now submit anonymous tips by sending a text message to 847-411 with the keyword “Coatesville.”

The Coatesville Police Department became the first law enforcement agency in the county to launch its own mobile phone application. Implemented through a partnership with the Minnesota-based firm Citizen Observer, the system allows the department to communicate with the public while allowing tipsters to remain completely anonymous.

“It’s just another way for the people to share information, and it’s another way for us to share information with the public and hopefully connect with a younger demographic,” said Sergeant Rodger Ollis, who runs many of the department’s community outreach programs.

The new program provides city residents with several options to submit anonymous tips to the city’s police department, including text messages, a mobile application, and a website accessible from the department’s new Facebook page. When a tip is submitted, the department’s senior officers and all shift supervisors receive an automated text message notifications on their cell phones.

The department’s officers are also able to respond to tipsters through the application.

“This is just another way to reach a younger demographic that always has a phone but who may not be willing to speak to someone on the phone, but they still want to submit a tip, this allows them to do that,” Ollis said.

The system also allows residents to sign up to receive alerts from the department, which police officials said will be used for road closures, weather alerts, and even notices of wanted persons.

Coatesville Police Chief Jack Laufer said he decided to pursue the new tip system because he felt the department could do more to connect with the city’s young people.

“I kind of felt like we were missing the boat on connecting with the younger generation who grew up with smart phones and other forms of technology,” Laufer said. “I felt that it had real possibilities for us in this city, I felt it was a great application to connect with people who aren’t comfortable with talking to someone on the phone.”

Laufer said he wanted to implement the system after observing the success other agencies had while using it, including the New Castle County and Newark police departments in Delaware.

Laufer stressed that the new system is not intended to replace emergency systems like dialing 911, but said it could become a valuable tool for both the police department and the general public.

The Coatesville Police Department Tips app can be downloaded online at the Google Play store, iTunes or by visiting the police department’s webpage at www.coatesville.org.

Citizens can also send an anonymous tip to the City of Coatesville Police Department by texting the keyword of COATESVILLE and their tip to 847411. Anonymous web tips can be submitted from the Police Department’s webpage at www.coatesville.org.

Follow Daily Local News staff writer Michael N. Price on Twitter @MikePriceWrites and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/michaelnprice.