By Charles Daye
Staff Writer
HOWELL – An anonymous tip program recently launched by the Howell Police Department has “definitely” helped with narcotics investigations and has led to arrests, according to Detective Sgt. Christian Antunez.
Antunez attributed the program’s initial success to a positive relationship between Howell residents and their police force. He said police officers regularly interact with members of the public through community events, charitable work, in schools and via social media.
The police department’s Facebook page has been “liked” by more than 11,000 people.
“We have always had a very good relationship with the public,” Antunez said in a June 1 interview. “In anything we do, we always have a good showing, we always have good support, so we knew it would be no different with this tip program. As soon as we put it out to the community, the tips started flooding in.”
The program operates exclusively through the website P3Tips.com. No phone call is required to be made to police. When an individual visits the website to submit a tip, he or she will be asked to select a country, a state and a town, and then to type in a tip for police.
The opioid epidemic played a direct role in getting the program implemented, according to Antunez.
He said he believes the genesis of the tip program dates back to 2014 when the Howell Municipal Alliance created a public service announcement with parents and students for local schools. People who were addicted to drugs, parents who had lost a child to drugs and law enforcement personnel appeared in the announcement.