Crimestoppers in trial to enable kids to inform by SMS

LONDON - Crimestoppers UK is piloting a scheme at three East London schools that will enable pupils to use SMS to anonymously inform on criminal activity such as knife crime.

The service, which if successful will be rolled out nationally, will allow the public to send information detailing crime incidents by texting it to a dedicated Crimestoppers number. The information will then be relayed to the police.

The independent crime charity has joined forces with mobile transaction network mBlox and Anderson Software, an applications specialist in law enforcement, to trial the initiative.

Michael Gordon-Gibson, Crimestoppers' UK bureau manager and vice-president of Crimestoppers International, said: "We're kicking the service off with a pilot in three Tower Hamlet schools that will specifically look at combating knife crime.

"We're confident that this pilot will be a success and plan to roll out to schools across London following this, with a view to a nationwide roll out in the near future."

While mBlox is providing the access to the telecoms networks, Anderson Software's TipSoft SMS technology will ensure that informants identities remain unknown by encrypting the messages and routing them through several secure servers.

Kevin Anderson, the chief executive of Anderson Software, said: "Due to the massive popularity of text messaging, we felt it was necessary to develop a secure and anonymous means of easy communication between mobile phone users and law enforcement."

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