Crime Stoppers

Boston Police Department
Crime Stoppers Text-a-Tip

The Need: In early 2007, the Boston Police Department was looking for a creative solution to inspire witness cooperation and community involvement at a time when the “stop snitching” culture had gained strong momentum.  The lack of community cooperation, particularly among youth, created a major challenge for the department.  There was an anonymous phone tip line through the Crime Stoppers program that citizens could call if they knew something, but too few people were using the line.

Solution: In June 2007, Mobile Messaging Solutions enabled the launch of a new text message service, Text-a-Tip, designed to reach a whole new audience of youth who prefer texting to talking.  The solution was designed to reach a key youth audience, who are most likely to have the critical information officers need to solve crimes.  In addition to calling 1-800-494-TIPS, Boston citizens can now text in an anonymous tip simply by sending the word “Tip” to the short code CRIME (27463).  mms also designed and developed a custom web-based management and reporting interface for the Crime Stoppers unit to help manage incoming tips.  The unit can even chat with tipsters through the interface via 1-to-1 chat sessions.  Awareness for the program was implemented through a multi-channel communications plan, including outdoor, radio and PR, executed by Boston-based advertising agency, Hill Holliday.

Results: Over a period of 18 months, over 600 text tips have been received.  Many tipsters engage in 1-to-1 chat with the Crime Stoppers unit.  Additionally, due to the heightened marketing around the program, phone volume has also quadrupled over that of the prior year.  Ultimately, the Boston Police Department deems the program a success, as text tips have led to inroads on serious crime cases.  Boston Police Department has also been recognized as a role model for other law enforcement agencies across the nation.   The Text-a-Tip solution was the first of its kind in the United States for a law enforcement agency, and the program is the recipient of the 2007 MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange) Award for Best Use of Mobile.