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Cape Girardeau Police Set Up Anonymous Tip Phone

Jessica Penland
/
KRCU
The number for the anonymous tip line is (573) 339-6313.

This week, the Cape Girardeau County Police Department set up an anonymous phone line as a way for citizens to report information to the police without revealing their own identity.
 
When a person calls the line their number will appear as a private caller.
 
Public information officer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Darin Hickey said he thinks the new phone line will offer peace of mind to the people calling.
 
“We understand that fear is a reality when it comes to people reporting crimes,” Hickey said. “We always encourage people to be a part of the criminal justice system and to make the reports, and be a witness, be willing to go to court to testify because a lot of times we can’t make cases without eyewitness testimony.”
 
Hickey recognizes that there is a time and a place for anonymous information.
 
“That information can be extremely valuable, from a type of vehicle to the license plates, or the direction of travel that someone is leaving a crime scene,” he said.
 
The anonymous tip line allows the caller to provide those details immediately to someone at the station, who can relay the information to an officer.
 
“In police work and law enforcement we are always trying to make it easier,” Hickey said. “We’re always trying to make things streamlined, to where we can offer more and more services to the community because that’s what we do."
 
He said the new service will not cost tax payers any additional money. They re-purposed a phone line they already had.
 
The number for the anonymous tip line is (573) 339-6313.

Jessica Penland was an intern reporter for KRCU in 2014.