ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – According to Escanaba Public Safety, the most valuable source of information is the public. Thanks to a new tool, officials say gathering that information will be easier—and more secure—than ever.
The City has received $10,692 in opioid grant funds from Delta County. The Public Safety Department will use those funds to enter into a three-year agreement with Tip411.
According to Public Safety Director John Gudwer, Tip411 allows citizens to anonymously send information to Public Safety quickly and confidentially.
“Say we get a tip, there’s a violent crime in progress than we could respond to, like someone was able to get this out—the victim, a witness,” Gudwer said when explaining the app to Escanaba’s City Council on Thursday. “I said, ‘Is there any way I can get a search warrant to find out?’ There’s no way to find out who left that tip. There is a way if they want to provide their information, they can, but they send that tip anonymously, it stays anonymous.”
Gudwer believes Tip411 will be especially helpful for people looking to report drugs without fear of repercussions.
“I was involved with, this past winter, the Rapid River Overdose Awareness meeting, and this was a subject that was brought up,” he said. “People want to be anonymous… They don’t trust sending an email and stuff like that. That was brought to my attention, that it was feared their name would still get out there that they made a report on something. This is the way around that.”
The City Council voted unanimously to approve Public Safety’s proposal to utilize funds to implement Tip411.
