New Iberians now have a new way of retaining anonymity while letting police know of suspected criminal activity.

The Iberia Crime Stoppers announced on Sunday the launch of a new free cell phone app which allows tipsters to send documents, images, videos and text to the Crime Stoppers, with special encryption software that keeps user’s identities anonymous and withheld from police.

The app, called P3 Intel, was developed by Texas-based Anderson Software, and it has been used by Crime Stopper organizations all over the country.

“It’s fantastic,” said Iberia Crime Stoppers board member Mike Barras. “We’ve been talking and learning about it and doing webinars, learning how to do this or that and what its capabilities are,” he said. “So far I haven’t found any shortcomings.”

Barras said the app assigns user an anonymized code, which remains protected under Anderson’s encryption software, and it allows users to communicate with police through that code.

“It’s interactive,” he said. “We can respond to it instantly. They get a code right there, and let’s say we have more questions — ‘did you say the car was red or white?’ We still don’t know who you are, but we can ask you questions based on the code, and the tipster can follow that and check in and see what the progress is, if an arrest has been made.”

Barras said that before, the Crime Stoppers would have to meet on the second Wednesday of the month to debrief on progress and to find out about the cash rewards that are tied to the tips that lead to an arrest.

“The other great thing about it is, let’s say you’re a Spanish-speaking only person. You can write in Spanish and we get it in English,” Barras said. “And if we need to respond or to ask a question, we can write it in English and they receive it in Spanish.”

Barras said the Iberia Crime Stoppers organization is in talks with Anderson Software about adding Laotian to the app as well. 

Potential tipsters can still submit information without the app from a PC or on any mobile browser by visiting www.p3tips.com, or by calling the hotline at 364-TIPS (8477). The new system also does away with character limits imposed by the previous text submissions.

“Using whichever method, once a person submits a tip, they will be given a TIP ID and password,” a prepared statement from the organization said. “With this information they can log in at p3tips.com and submit follow-up information, engage in real-time chat/two-way dialouge, be informed of the outcome of the tip, and access any pertinent reward information.”

Barras also said that, in addition to increasing accessibility, the new system will be cheaper to operate.