Police Department
Anonymous Crime Reporting 
Crime Tip 411
The Salinas Police Department has launched a new, modern way for the
community to report crimes anonymously by sending a text message. This
is in addition to We-Tip and other crime reporting hotlines.
A company called Citizen One Observer, based out of St. Paul, Minnesota provides a service called Tip 411. Tip 411 is an internet based tool that enables the public to text message an anonymous crime tip to the Salinas Police Department, and to allow the Salinas Police Department to respond back in an anonymous chat format.
Your crime tip by text is guaranteed to be anonymous, as your cell phone number is coded and scrambled once received at Citizen Observer, with the crime tip forwarded to the Salinas Police Department utilizing a combination of numbers and letters. The Citizen One Company and the Salinas Police Department will not be able to find out who you are.
Anyone with a cell phone can send an anonymous tip to the Salinas Police Department with the code “SPD831” to “847411” followed by a text message. Please note that Text message charges may apply to your account, depending on the terms of service.
Cell phone set up is easy:
- Under Contacts on your cell phone, establish a new group titled “847411” and save.
- Now go to your text messaging as you would to send a text message to someone.
- In the “To” block (who your going to send it to), type in “847411”.
- Drop to your text box; once in text box type in “SPD831” followed by a space.
Letters are not case sensitive- Then type in your crime tip and push send once your crime tip is complete.
An example tip would look like this:
SPD831 I know who shot the house at 123 Main Street. His name is Joe.
Once crime tip is sent, you will receive a message from Citizen Observer indicating the message is received by Citizen One and forwarded to the Salinas Police Department.
The Salinas Police Department can respond to the sender to ask for additional information. If the sender does not want any further contact, the sender only needs to push the “stop” or “end” button on their phone and the contact between the citizen, Citizen Observer and the Salinas Police Department is broken.
Crime tips received will be monitored by the SPD Community Services Unit and forwarded to the appropriate investigating unit. For anyone calling in an emergency they should always use 911. Using the Citizen One Observer - Tip 411 does not replace any other crime reporting hotline such as We-Tip or any of the crime reporting numbers established by the Salinas Police Department.Questions should be directed to Sergeant Jay Malispina at (831) 758-7247.
WeTip Hotline
Anyone wishing to anonymously report gang activity, crimes of violence or other any other crime are encouraged to call WeTip at 1-800-782-7463
(1-800-78-CRIME). Your call to WeTip is totally confidential, as you
never have to give your name or other identifying information about
you. Your phone conversation is not recorded or traced. The Salinas
Police Department just wants your crime tip information.
When you call We Tip, you will be speaking with a live operator. Because WeTip is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you can call anytime, day or night. There are bilingual operators available as well.
Of course, if you are reporting any in-progress crime you should always call 911. In addition, you may also call in a non-emergency crime tip on the following numbers: 758-7321, 775-4222 or 758-7400
(Monterey County Joint Gang Task Force). These phone numbers are
available to those that do not wish to speak to a live operator but
desire to leave a
crime tip.
If you have any questions feel free to contact Sergeant Jay Malispina at (831) 758-7247 or CSO Jenny Bryant at (831) 758-7044.