BENTON -- Citizens with information about a crime can now go online to alert law enforcement officers.
According to Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell, a Crime Tip link was added to the Sheriff's Office web page to enable citizens to leave information for investigators. Ferrell said the crime tip form has optional fields for persons wishing to identify themselves but, these fields can be left blank if the person leaving the information wishes to remain anonymous.
Ferrell explained that vital information about crimes is sometimes never known because people are hesitant to give the information in fear of retaliation or because they do not want to end up in court as a witness. As a result many criminals who should be in jail are out committing additional crimes.
"Citizens play a big role in the law enforcement and prosecution of crimes," said Ferrell. "The crime tip link will give citizens a method of reporting what they feel is important information."
In addition to ongoing criminal investigations, Ferrell said he hopes to receive information on the location of wanted persons, unregistered sexual offenders, illegal drug trafficking, and any other criminal type activity.
The Sheriff's Office web page is located at www.showme.net/scottcountysheriff click on the (Crime Tip) link.