The Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a tip of a possible threat of violence at a Marion County High School on Tuesday 02/19 shortly after 11pm. The tip was received on the Sheriff’s Office tip411 app which is utilized by all Marion County schools. Using the information from tip411 helped deputies identify the individuals involved and enabled the investigation to be completed quickly and determine no threat existed. The administration of the school involved was notified of the tip and the result of the investigation.
tip411 is an app utilized by the students to provide information to school administrators and/or law enforcement about bullying, threats of violence, drug use, suspicious activity, and other suspicious or criminal acts. The provider of the tip can remain 100% anonymous when sending a tip. When the tip is received through the tip411 app the school administrators and law enforcement can have a text conversation through the tip411 app with the individual who sent the tip all while remaining anonymous.
Sheriff Bailey stated “The purpose of the partnership with the schools and the tip411 app was done in an effort to help school administrators and law enforcement provide a safe environment for our students in Marion County schools.” Our students can be our eyes and ears and assist us in keeping asafe learning environment. They can do so without fear of retaliation by using the app,which allows them to provide us with information anonymously.”The tip411 app can also be used by students to provide information about things that may occur outside of the school as well.