A possible Madison Area Crime Stoppers software upgrade could allow UW-Madison students and city residents to text message anonymous tips to help solve city crimes.
TipSoft, the software Crime Stoppers hopes to begin using, would supplement the current phone and e-mail tip lines.
Nobody's using their phone anymore - they're text messaging with their thumbs,"" K. Scott Abrams, president of the board of Wisconsin State Crime Stoppers, Inc. said. ""We see this as a good way to get information to get the bad guys off the street by using modern technology and keeping people anonymous.""
Paul Jacobsen, Madison Police officer and coordinator of Madison Area Crime Stoppers, said he thinks people would be more likely to use text messaging because it is a faster, more convenient and, in some cases, safer.
""Say you were in a situation where you couldn't call and talk out loud, but you could text message that tip in, and you could safely do that without anyone else knowing it,"" Jacobsen said.
With the new software, the system would accept text messages from anyone, and once received, would send back a confirmation text and an ID number, Jacobsen said. The software protects privacy by never allowing the anonymous ID number and the original text to be traced back and forth.
According to Jacobsen, the software is expected to cost between $5,000 and $7,000 per year. He said until a sponsor is found to cover the cost, the program has no estimated start date.
Jacobsen said Crime Stoppers is still presenting the idea to different groups that could be affected, like the university, and is ""absolutely looking for sponsorship.""
""The program would target college students and individuals who utilize text messaging,"" he said, ""But the main thing that Crime Stoppers wants people to realize is that it has to be a partnership between all the different entities.""
University Communications spokesperson John Lucas said the program could be good for the university because of the immense use of cell phones and the convenience of text messaging. ""If they can get more tips into the system, that would be a positive thing,"" Lucas said.
In a 2008 Student Computing Survey conducted by UW-Madison's Division of Information Technology, 93 percent of students reported owning a cell phone and 75 percent used text messaging.
