Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Launches iPhone App, Texting for Crime Tips

The following is a press release from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office.

Do you want to help the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office fight crime?  Now, there’s an “app” for that! 

The Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek announced that the Sheriff’s Office has launched an app for the iPhone and for android phones. The free apps allow citizens to send crime tips anonymously to the Sheriff’s Office.  

“When citizens get involved and provide crime tips, it helps keep their communities safer,” said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, “Now the new phone apps make reporting tips even more convenient.”

Community members with iPhones are encouraged to install the app by visiting the Apple App Store and searching for “HCSOTip.”  For android phones, go to Google Play and search HCSOTip. 

(*Note that for both apps, the search term is HCSOTip – which is one word without a space. Other search terms are “Hennepin” or “Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.”)

In addition, the Sheriff’s Office announced two other new ways to send anonymous tips.

Tips can be sent through texting on cellular phones by texting 847-411 and then entering “HCSOtip” as the keyword before entering their tip.  Standard text rates apply.

Tips can be sent by logging onto the Sheriff’s Office website and completing an online form. There is an icon on the homepage at www.hennepinsheriff.org

All three methods – the phone apps, texting, and the online form – are anonymous and the tips are sent directly to the Sheriff’s Office. This allows Sheriff’s Office detectives to ask follow-up questions to tipsters, who remain anonymous.

It’s important to remember that the new tip services are NOT a substitute for calling 911.  People who need a squad car or other emergency responders should call 911.

Helpful tips include information about drug activity, suspicious activity, and cold cases. The Sheriff’s Office has a long history of receiving tips from residents.  For example, tipsters have helped the Sheriff’s Office make arrests of violent suspects featured on the Hennepin County Most Wanted List. 

The new tip services are provided by Citizen Observer, a St. Paul-based company that works with law enforcement agencies nationwide to provide these services.