Police hope tips by text will be new tool to fight crime

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Attorney General’s Office has a new weapon in the fight against crime — a cell phone.

Surrounded by chiefs and officers from police departments across the state, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff on Wednesday announced a new initiative that will allow residents statewide to anonymously give police tips via texts or their computer browser. The tips can be in text form or videos and pictures.

“This is a tool to help law enforcement better do their jobs,” Shurtleff said. “This is the technological weapon of choice for many law enforcement agencies.”

Shurtleff called it “digital crime fighting.” Because criminals are utilizing this technology, he said it’s up to law enforcers to use it also.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said law enforcement agencies would “miss the boat” if they didn’t adapt to new technologies.

Using the company TipSoft, 51 law enforcement agencies throughout the state now have the ability to take tips using smart phones, computers or iPads. The system is set up in such a way that all tips are completely anonymous and cannot be traced.

“We cannot go back and figure out who submitted the tip. It is absolutely secure,” promised TipSoft founder and CEO Greg Whisenant.

Yet the software being used by police still allows them to contact the person who submitted the tip if they need to collect any follow-up information, Whisenant said.

People who have a tip about a crime can send a text message to “CRIMES” (274637) and add an agency-specific keyword. On a computer, residents can send a tip via www.tipsubmit.com or by downloading the TipSoft app on their iPhone or Android.

Shurtleff recommended residents have their local police agency saved in their “contacts” on their phone.

The Salt Lake City Police Department has already embraced social media, including having its own Facebook and Twitter pages. Chief Chris Burbank said there are multiple people in his department monitoring those sites daily for tips.

Having a tip line doesn’t mean much, Burbank said, if the tips just sit in a computer file and are rarely looked at.

“The quicker we respond to a crime, the better we’re able to prevent another crime from happening on top of it,” he said.

Burbank admitted, however, that filling a staff position to monitor the tips will be a problem. But he called the new online tip line one more avenue similar to the department’s traditional tip line on a traditional telephone.

Not everyone is comfortable using a telephone, Whisenant said. Some people prefer texting, he said.

One concern is whether the convenience of texting and the security of anonymity would prompt a rash of false police tips. Law enforcers Wednesday agreed it is a concern. But Whisenant said usually after an initial spike of false tips, the number of false reports generally dies off.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam

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Seven tips for hiring a social media intern

Interns: They’re young, cheap and desperate to build a resume. More importantly, a good intern could be just what your company needs to truly dive deep into the social media pool.

All the buzz and hype surrounding social media as a marketing tool sadly has failed to produce a major, widespread embrace by the furnishings world. Many vendors and retailers alike either have not created social network accounts or are inactive on their pages. However, vendors’ and retailers’ online social passivity does not always translate to a lack of interest in these ever-growing, hype-building distribution channels, like Facebook and Twitter.

Earlier in July, at the Atlanta Market, I spoke with vendors and retailers alike who confessed to still not understanding how to market themselves with social media. The interest was there, but many companies — even the top source for information in the home accents category, Home Accents Today — lack the resources necessary to hire a full-time social media maverick. Company presidents and money managers across the board can’t justify paying another salary in these live-or-die economic times, particularly since monetizing and assigning a monetary value to social media proves to be difficult or impossible.

The answer to these hindrances: Hire a social media intern. There’s a host of college students and recent graduates just waiting for the chance to prove themselves. With unemployment above 9%, the job/internship market is scrappier than ever, and a social media opening is sure to draw a ton of applications. The resulting question is “How do I pick the right applicant?”

Here are some tips to help you hire a game player:

• Firstly, make this a PAID internship. You don’t have to handout a bar of gold per day, but some guaranteed monetary incentive will result in a stronger applicant pool.

• Target students. Posting on Craigslist would be a waste of time, send an internship description directly to university career departments. If you’re located in a college town, make the internship year-long to add consistency to your posts.

• Look at what the applicant has done. An impressive resume should be easy to spot – extracurriculars, high GPA, challenging course load, volunteer work, past internship/job history, all those standards.

• “Stalk” your applicant. Check that the applicant has a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn page, etc. Note the extent with which the applicant uses his personal social media. Stalking can also be telling of the applicant’s manners and ability to communicate.

• Check that your applicant understands business. Familiarity with social media is only half the game, a good applicant should understand that your business uses social media to promote itself and increase sales.

• Value appropriately channeled creativity. Business, advertising, and public relations majors aren’t the only ones who know how to sell. An optimal social media intern should be creative enough to keep your pages and the conversations on them fresh.

• During interviews, make the applicant pitch him/herself. This serves as a good litmus test. The applicant should speak with ease, refer to specific strategies to increase your company’s exposure, and drop a couple of terms you don’t know. If what you hear doesn’t sound informed or meet your business’ needs, move along.

Think of an intern as an infantryman, a foot soldier: He/She holds the front line, but it’s up to you to mastermind the campaign. Companies that most effectively use social media have a clear, defined strategy. Some manage to do this in-house while others outsource.

If your company is lacking a social media strategy, stay tuned to learn how to develop your own. Attendees of the summer Las Vegas Market, Aug. 1-5, can get a quick course on the subject at the Social Media Bar. Located at World Market Center C-301, the Social Media Bar will host informational sessions twice a day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for social media beginners and intermediate users.

What experiences have you had with interns? What social media strategies work for you?

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