Article Contributed on: 9/18/2009 3:27:16 PM
The Text-A-Tip program is seeing success, six months after it was adopted.
The program, a partnership between DCSD and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO), is a text message tip hotline started in March and offered a new way for students to communicate safety concerns. In the program's first six months, more than 150 tips resulted in drug and theft arrests, as well as the arrest of an individual making threats about harming other students.
The program utilizes the same technology as Crime Stoppers but allows high school students in the Douglas County School District to send a text message in real time. Students can anonymously give information about a crime or express concern over a student who may be in trouble. Each DCSD high school has been assigned an identifying keyword, which the student enters at the beginning of the tip. The student sends the text to the special access number, and the message is received by a School District dispatcher, who can even text back in real time. The tips are monitored 24 hours a day, and the dispatcher can call in further resources such as law or fire presonnel or school administration. If the tip involves a crime in progress, it will be sent to the appropriate police dispatch center for immediate response.
DCSO is the first law enforcement agency in the state to offer the Text-A-Tip program.
"We are extremely pleased with the success of this program, it has surpassed all of our expectations and has become a valuable resource," says Dan Clemente, DCSD director of security. "We are also very proud of the students that have stepped up to be responsible citizens and used this program the way it was intended: to help make their school a safer and more productive learning environment."
The tip program is intended for non-emergencies; students should still use 911 when reporting a true emergency. The program is currently available to DCSD high schools only. Depending on further success of the program, it may be exteded to middle schools in the future.
For more information about Text-A-Tip, contact the DCSO's Youth Education Program at 303.814.7033.