Safe2Tell Colorado Anonymous Tip Line Sees Big Spike

Safe2Tell Colorado, which was established following the Columbine shooting, received 1,842 total tips in Sept. 2018 alone.
Published: January 1, 2019

An anonymous tip line established in Colorado following the 1999 Columbine shooting saw a significant increase in reports this past year.

Since its establishment in 2004, Safe2Tell Colorado has received 48,000 calls, web tips and mobile app reports. In Sept. 2018 alone, it received 1,842 total tips, up 46 percent from Sept. 2017, reports Vail Daily.com.

“The numbers alone show the impact the Safe2Tell program has on breaking down the code of silence and empowering students to speak up for themselves and their friends,” said Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, who has seen seven Colorado school shootings since she landed the position 15 years ago.

There were 16,000 tips to the tip line during the 2017-2018 school year — a 74 percent increase from the 2016-2017 school year.

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“We tend to see an increase in tips after incidents of school violence either in our state or around the country,” said Annie Skinner, director of communications for the Colorado Attorney General’s office. “We did see a substantial increase in tips after the Parkland shooting.”

Other states have successfully created anonymous tip lines, including Wyoming and Maryland.

The Safe Schools Maryland tip line, which was expedited by Governor Larry Hogan following the Great Mills High School shooting, received 133 total tips from the Oct. 3 launch date through Nov. 30, according to DelmarvaNow.

“Tips range from bullying to drug dealing and we will have more robust analytics as we get deeper into the school year,” said Maryland Center for School Safety spokesperson Emily Allen Lucht.

There were 887 tips received by Safe2Tell Wyoming during the 2017-2018 school year — a 76 percent increase from the previous school year.

Colorado Attorney General’s Office Releases 2 School Safety Resources

On Dec. 18, Coffman’s office announced the release of two new tools for schools to protect students, including a comprehensive guide and video message featuring former Columbine High School principal Frank DeAngelis.

The Colorado School Safety Guide was created as part of the Safe Communities Safe Schools Initiative and contains five school safety components, including prevention and assessment, protection, mitigation, response and recovery.

The video message, which can be watched below, includes information on the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and is intended to educate on the importance of information sharing.

For more information about Colorado’s Safe2Tell program, which is overseen by the Attorney General’s Office, go to https://safe2tell.org/.

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