Now in its sixth year of use in Fountain Hills, local authorities claim that the Text-A-Tip program continues to be a helpful crime prevention resource around town. A year-end wrap for 2016 was offered during the Jan. 25 meeting of the Fountain Hills Coalition, where it was explained that 16 arrests were made last year due to Text-A-Tip.

The program is completely anonymous; allowing users to inform local authorities via text when something might need their attention. From alerting deputies to vandalism to disorderly conduct or issues on school campuses, Text-A-Tip allows the user to communicate with a responding deputy without getting personally involved.

During the Jan. 25 meeting, it was explained that 179 total Text-A-Tips came in throughout 2016, with the biggest months being November (20) and March (18). Of those tips, 23 came from local school campuses with the remaining 156 originating from all over town.

Of those numbers, 12 were deemed legitimate issues on campuses with 78 deemed legitimate from around down. From there, 16 arrests were made due to information acquired from Text-A-Tip, nine of which occurred in June.

Highlights from the year’s Text-A-Tip busts began in March, when a tip led to a student who had snuck alcohol onto campus.

In May, a Text-A-Tip led to the arrest of two suspects with outstanding warrants who had been spotted digging in the ground around El Pueblo and Grande.

Those nine arrests in June were all tied to a single underage drinking party, while an August arrest was tied to an individual being a public nuisance.

September saw a Text-A-Tip that led authorities to an individual with an outstanding warrant while, in October, six different Text-A-Tip messages came in concerning clowns in local parks. All tips provided deputies with information that led to arrests.

Finally, in November, a student was arrested for drug possession on the high school campus thanks to two Text-A-Tip notifications that were submitted.

For those who wish to keep the Text-A-Tip number handy, simply save the number for CRIMES (274637). When you send a text to that number to report a potential crime, begin the text with “FH.” Briefly explain where you are and what has happened, and the situation will be looked into. Again, the texts are completely anonymous and, according to this most recent report, helping keep Fountain Hills safe.