CYBER COMMUNITY WATCH: POLICE SEEK DRUG E-TIPS

Joining the Frederick Police Department's fight against illegal drugs
is just a few keystrokes away.

The drug enforcement unit has established an e-mail address for
taking residents' tips on drug activity -- even photos or videos,
said Sgt. Dwight Sommers, the unit's supervisor.

Police aren't looking to identify tipsters, Sommers said. They don't
plan to drag them into court.

"Not to worry. That's not how this works," he said. "We simply want
to elicit information from the community that will give us a start -
a location, a tag number. We'll take it from there."

The new e-mail address is a product of changing technology, he
said.

The address is fpddrugtip@fredco-md.net.

Residents who don't have access to a computer may continue to call in
with information to the drug enforcement unit's phone line. That
number is 301-600-2246.

Having the phone line and e-mail address helps get the tips to the
officers who will investigate them more efficiently, instead of
having them filtered first through the police department's main line.

While the agency isn't equipped for text messaging yet, that idea is
in the works when finances permit, Sommers said.

"We hope to eventually get there too."