LAPD launches anonymous SMS text messaging tipline

The LAPD has been stereotyped as corrupt and brutal for years. How true that stereotype really is goes beyond the scope of our corner of the blogosphere, so we’ll leave that alone. But, no one can say that the LAPD isn’t embracing technology.

Mirroring similar initiatives by law enforcement agencies around the US, the Los Angeles Police Department has launched an anonymous SMS text messaging tipline. Upright Los Angelenos can now send SMS text messages to tip off the police to suspicious activity in their ‘hood.

LAPD officials told IntoMobile that text messages are anonymized through a third-party application provider, called TIPSOFT SMS, to ensure that the tipster’s identity never becomes known to LAPD. Tipsters simply send an SMS text message to the short-code “CRIME” (274637) with the body of the text message starting off with the word “LAPD.” TIPSOFT receives the text message, anonymizes the message, and then sends the tip to the LAPD. Users are assigned reference numbers sent back to them as a text message to confirm receipt of the tip. The LAPD can follow up on tips or issue rewards by sending messages to a tipster’s reference number.