Photo by Daniel Jackovino Lt. Vincent Kerney, of the Bloomfield Police Department, displays the app that will enable residents to provide the department with crime-fighting tips anonymously.
Lt. Vincent Kerney, of the Bloomfield Police Department, displays the app that will enable residents to provide the department with crime-fighting tips anonymously.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Residents with a cell phone may now text the Bloomfield Police Department and leave anonymous tips with a new app that was inaugurated Friday, April 28.
The app is called “tip411” and can be downloaded on Itunes and Google play store.
“This is not to replace 9-1-1,” said Lt. Vincent Kerney, of the Bloomfield Police Department’s Internal Affairs, who is co-ordinating the new program. “We want to stress that people should not use this in place of 9-1-1. This is for tips that lead to an investigation.”
The BPD can also use the tip411 app to put out alerts, such as those involving roadblocks or missing persons, Kerney said.
All anonymous tips go to Kerney, BPD Director Sam DeMaio, and Capt. Glenn Weigand. The BPD can communicate anonymously back and forth with the person who provided the tip.
“We can only reply to a thread that someone has started,” Kerney said.
Tips are not monitored 24/7 but come into a general email box that is checked. There are no automatic responses. Prior to tip411, a tipster would call the department and not leave their name.
In his office, Kerney said that since it was started, a single tip has come in but he expects more once the app catches on.
The texted exchange between the one tipster and Kerney was recorded like any email and seemed to be typical: The tipster wanted to know how they could be sure their identity was unknown. Kerney assured them that their identity would be unknown. But the tipster persisted and said if they found out otherwise, the police would hear from their attorney.
Although there is no penalty for anonymously giving the police false information — there would be no one to prosecute since the person is unknown — Kerney said the BPD did not think residents were going to abuse the program.
“There’s a false reports to law enforcement, a criminal statute, but we’re not going to pursue it,” he said.
Tips would be reviewed daily to see if they are being handle properly.
“It’s my job to see that the right people are getting the tip,” Kerney said.
The cost of the app was $10,500 for two years. In the future, the BPD intends to use asset-forfeiture funds to pay for the app.
“In essence, the app should pay for itself as it brings in information on crime,” said Kerney.
“In essence, the app should pay for itself as it brings in information on crime,” Kerney said. “Anytime we can reach out to the public, it’s a success.”
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This is very important especially at the South End because some of our residents have been seriously assaulted by juvenile thugs from other towns.