YOUNG FOLKS MORE LIKELY TO USE EMAIL TIP LINE

SAINT JOHN - A new anonymous email tip line set up by the Saint John
Police Force is showing promising results.

The address, policetips@saintjohn.ca, appeals to younger members of
the public who are more inclined to email, text message or twitter,
than they are to pick up the phone and call someone, Sgt. Jim Fleming
told the city's police commission this week.

"These kids are, in a good sense, wired, attached to the Internet,"
he said. "Just for an example, a few weeks ago, we received an email,
and at the first it almost looked like a hoax."

Without going into a lot of detail, Fleming said it turned into an
investigation by the family protection unit into a complaint by a
young girl who was part of a group being targeted by a man in his 30s.

"Without that police tips line, it is doubtful the young girls would
have contacted police," he said.

Young people sometimes feel freer to pass along information when they
don't have to talk to someone, he said.

As well as information on sexual predators, the tip line has also
been used to pass along information about drug houses in the city.

Fleming believes it will gain wider acceptance and be used by all
ages in society.

Information received on the tip line has already led to
investigations that have resulted in search warrants at addresses
where drugs were being sold.

On another crime prevention front, now that winter is over and
officers are patrolling the city on bicycles, they are having more
contact with the community and relationships are developing, Fleming said.

With officers patrolling in pairs, or in even larger groups in some
neighbourhoods, it is having an impact on the criminal element who
are beginning to realize they are being watched.

"There has been some discussion back and forth and we have made it
known to them that we are here to stay and that our primary job is to
enforce the law," he said.