Residents Text Crime Tips to Yukon Police

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

YUKON, Oklahoma -- What you carry on you every day, could be the weapon to curbing crimes, one text message at a time.

Brooklyn Barber loves using her cell phone to test her best friends.

"I just like it more because lots of my friends' phones go dead when I'm talking to them," Barber said.

While this 9-year-old is texting away to her friends, she's also holding the newest weapon to fight crime.

Yukon police are hoping to use technology that most people have to catch criminals and curb crime.

"Anything they think is suspicious and they don't want to call 911," said Yukon police spokesperson Klare Ly.

When residents text a tip to Yukon police the message is encrypted so your name and number are always anonymous. Then the message is posted for Yukon police to read.

Every message is assigned a special code so police can communicate with you without ever knowing who or where you are. It is aimed at reaching out to younger people to help combat crime.

"They know this is a secure method and they know right from wrong," said Yukon Police Chief Gary Wieczorek. "And once they're comfortable with the system, they'll be more apt to do that rather than to take the time and effort to go to a phone and actually call someone."

At a neighborhood watch meeting, parents like Mucio Macedo were given peace of mind for their kids.

"It was news to us. I didn't know they had things like that," Macedo said. "That's our treasure, we should treasure our children and keep them safe and nurture them because that will be our future as well."

To send a crime text tip to Yukon police, text CRIMES, type the keyword YPD and your message and hit send.