**Editor’s note: I am the president of Crime Stoppers of Racine County, and I am excited about helping our amazing kids help make their schools even better places where they can be incredible.
When high school students at Case, Horlick and Park walk through the doors of their respective schools Tuesday, they’ll have a powerful new tool at their fingertips to help make their school communities safer.
Crime Stoppers of Racine County, in partnership with the Racine Unified School District, launches a scholastic crime stoppers program designed to give students the opportunity to play a direct role in making their schools the safest, most productive places possible.
In a nutshell, the high school program works just like the adult Crime Stoppers; the organization pays cash for anonymous tips, and for high schoolers, that means tips that check out for bullying, fights, theft, 
drugs, guns and more. Tipsters will be assigned a tip number but never asked their name.
Students can download the TipSoft App for free (both iPhone and Android) to text tips to Crime Stoppers without ever giving their names. Tips can also be called in at 1-888-636-9330, via the web at http://racine.crimestoppersweb.com/, or via more traditional text message: RACS to 274637(crimes).
Anonymity remains the core of both the adult and high school programs; the only information students will need to provide is the name of the school and whatever information they have about a particular situation.
Tips are then passed to the appropriate school so school resource officers and/or administration can check out the information. If the tip checks out – a fight is averted, bullies are confronted, stolen items are recovered – the student could be eligible for a cash reward they can collect at a local bank.
Reporter Olivia Hitchcock from The Journal Times did a really good job describing the program in her story last month, and I wanted to use this space the night before school starts to remind parents and their students about the new scholastic Crime Stoppers program.
Please encourage your student(s) to download the free TipSoft app. Please encourage your student(s) to use the app to say something if they see something or if they know something.
The board of Crime Stoppers of Racine County is committed to working with the students of Racine Unified to making their school communities the safest and the most productive they can be because we know we have amazing kids doing incredible things here.
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