Rochester Reporter

Mayor Malik D. Evans announced today that the City of Rochester has added a new public-engagement tool to provide citizens an anonymous means to report non-emergency crime tips.

The City has entered into a partnership with Report It Anonymous Reporting System, a free smartphone and internet application that provides users the ability to report non-emergency criminal activity to the City.

“Report It gives our citizens an easy-to-use method to say something when they see something that is 100 percent anonymous,” said Mayor Evans. “From news delivery, travel planning to buying coffee, smartphone apps are increasingly becoming the preferred means of communication sharing in our society, so this application allows us to engage our customers on their terms to gain the information we need to reduce crime and keep our community safe. Report It represents yet another tool in our ever-expanding public-safety tool box that will help us create a safe, equitable and prosperous Rochester by inspiring hope and delivering opportunity to everyone.”

South District City Councilmember LaShay Harris suggested the City adopt the technology after seeing it on the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives website while doing research.

“I want to thank the Mayor and his team for vetting this technology and bringing it to Rochester,” she said. “We needed a way to collect crime tips using the modes of communications people use today, and the most used device is the cell phone. With this application, citizens can report suspicious activity with the assurance they will remain anonymous, which is a critical component of our work to restore the partnership between the community and the Police Department.”

The Report It application uses proprietary technology that offers full confidence that their information will be delivered to the City while no identifying data on them or their device will be collected or saved. Users can also establish anonymous accounts to receive messages on their report.

The application is limited to non-emergency crime-tips that will be reviewed Monday through Friday during business hours. Crime-tip categories include suspicious person or activity, guns and weapons, theft or burglary, fugitive information and information about a previous crime. Users can also provide photos.

Other users of the Report It application include the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

To begin a crime-tip report text ‘Rochester’ to 63975. To download the app, text ‘reportit’ to the 63975.

The City will utilize the Report It application for crime tips for one year and then determine if it can be expanded to other functions of City operations.

Original source can be found here.