Lafayette School Corporation distributes 20,000 WeTip flyers to students today

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Lafayette School Corporation will be handing out over 20,000 flyers today explaining how the new Tippecanoe County WeTip Crime Reporting Hotline works. The teachers will be sending home three flyers with each child. The Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s office is encouraging parents to visit their next-door neighbors with their children and deliver a WeTip flyer to them.

The model, based on one used in the Compton Unified School District, reduced school incidents by 90% during its first semester of implementation. The distribution process is meant to spark friendly communication between neighbors. The goal is to get out the word regarding the WeTip Hotline and how it works, however, it also encourages neighbors to introduce themselves and to start talking to each other.

“A large part of illegal activity can be stopped when neighbors watch out for each other. Getting to know your neighbor is the first step,” said Kathryn Redd, Project Safe Neighborhood/Gang Initiative Coordinator, Tippecanoe Prosecutor’s Office.

Tippecanoe County anonymous crime reporting hotline launches June 1

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Patrick K. Harrington, Tippecanoe County Prosecutor, and Kathryn J. Redd, Tippecanoe Project Safe Neighborhood/Gang Initiative Coordinator, announce the first phase of the launch of the TIPPECANOE COUNTY WeTip anonymous illegal activity reporting hotline. The hotline phone number, 1-800-78-CRIME, will be active on June 1, 2008.

According to a press release issued by the Prosecutor’s Office, the system has been developed in response to the citizens desire to become an active partner with law enforcement in ridding their neighborhoods of illegal activities and crime, all Tippecanoe County law enforcement agencies have partnered with We Tip on the war against crime.

By incorporating, We Tip Municipal, Law Enforcement and School programs into a comprehensive initiative, all citizens are assured that they can use the system and that their crime tips will be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

As the first phase of the We Tip program, over 65,000 flyers will be distributed, through the schools this week, to every child in Tippecanoe School Corporation, Lafayette School Corporation, and West Lafayette Community School Corporation. Based on the model used in the Compton Unified School District, in California, each child will be given three flyers and asked to distribute one to each neighbor adjacent to their home.

This grassroots initiative is intended to “put the power back in the hands of the citizens and away from those involved in illegal activity.”

We Tip operates “800″ toll-free lines, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by trained operators who are able to field calls in English and Spanish and with a TIDY machine for the hearing-impaired.

The We Tip Hotline will be live on June 1.

Further announcements will be made at the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s Project Safe Neighborhood Anti-Crime Initiatives Press Conference on May 28, 2008 at 5:00pm, Duncan Hall. Susan Aguilar, WeTip CEO, will be speaking to the press at that time.