NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Suffolk County Police have launched a new app that allows tipsters to anonymously report crimes using their smartphones.
The P3 app allows tipsters to send videos, pictures, and other files straight to the police. Tips will no longer be accepted via text message.
"We encourage everybody to think of this as an avenue to give information to the police," said Dawn Schob, Suffolk County Police Department's spokesperson. "Especially if you want to remain anonymous."
App users each have a tip ID and password that allows them to follow up on tips and update with new information. Anonymous tips made on the app can be eligible for cash rewards.
Michael Balboni, former acting state senator and homeland security advisor, says the app is "what we have needed, since video is really the determining factor in so many investigations, if you have it."
He believes it will change the future of police investigations.
"I think this is going to speed up investigations and hopefully provide greater accuracy," Balboni said. "The days of the witness ID sketch artists may be going to the wayside."
P3, which stands for Public, Police, Private Sector, arrives on the 25th anniversary of the county's Crime Stoppers program. Click here to download the app.