Suffolk County, welcome to the 21st century.
For the second time this year, the county Legislature has forayed into the wide world of text messaging, this time using the fine art of thumb-tapping for good.
With speedy thumbs come great responsibility. Or something like that.
Legis. Wayne Horsley, the first legislator to have his own blog, announced today that the county’s Crime Stoppers program will be beefed up by adding a “Text a Tip” element to it.
Suffolk’s program is piggy-backing on others already in place in New York City, Boston, Cincinnati, Ohio; Charleston, S.C.; Seattle, Fresno, Calif.; San Diego, Tampa, Fla. and Kansas City, Mo.
Statistics show that text a tip programs have resulted in as much as a 212 percent increase in successful crime prevention tips and led to hit-and-run arrests, illegal gun confiscations and even solved homicide investigations, Horsley said.
Horsley added he hopes the new program can prevent instances such as last week’s 100-student brawl at Hempstead High School from happening again.
“After reading reports of over 100 high schools students engaging in a dangerous brawl it seemed obvious that someone must have known about the impending mêlée, and maybe it could have been prevented,” Horsley said in a statement. “Look, texting is the preferred way of communication among teenagers and young adults so it makes sense that we embrace the role of texting in our policing efforts. Texting a tip to law enforcement is a rapid and silent method of communication that may make tipsters more comfortable when reporting crimes or potential crimes.”
