New app empowers anonymous reporting of human trafficking
- UN: Human trafficking and transnational crime ‘a crisis within a crisis'
- TCI Tips App allows anonymous reporting of terrorism, smuggling, cybercrime
- App creator: ‘It's heart-wrenching to go to these intake centers’
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(NewsNation) — Human trafficking and transnational crime transcend borders, constituting what the United Nations describes as “a crisis within a crisis.”
Humanitarian issues are worsening amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, leading to problems with human and weapons trafficking. The U.N. notes that the majority of refugees, primarily women and children, fleeing the war are now facing exploitation.
Jim Fuda, vice chairman of Crime Stoppers Global Solutions, said the organization introduced the anonymous tip app through a crime stoppers program in Seattle in November 2017. He highlights that it observed an overnight quadrupling of tips and more than doubled arrests. This success prompted Fuda to create the TCI Tips App and implement a similar program abroad.
“We picked human trafficking, terrorism, illicit trade, arms dealing, drug smuggling, cybercrime and bank fraud — brought it to Serbia,” Fuda said. “Took two years to build the trusted relationships … here in Seattle in February 2020, to learn the operational side of things, and then COVID hit. So, we’ve been back reestablishing those connections.”
Fuda said reporting crimes through the app is a “seamless process.” Citizens can download the app, report a crime, and their location remains confidential once they submit the information.
“They can even attach video, audio and photos to it. Once they hit submit, all we know them by is a numeric identifier. The detective that’s investigating can even communicate back and forth with the tipster still not knowing who they are or where they are. It’s a matter of putting people at ease to know there will be no retribution for many kinds of corrupt law enforcement or the bad guy themselves that they’re wanting to report,” Fuda explained.
Fuda mentioned that Moldova, where a trusted connection familiar with the crime stoppers concept exists, reached out to them. They’re also gearing up to launch programs in Belgrade and Chișinău after the first of the year.
“I was in Chișinău in May, and it’s heart-wrenching to go to these intake centers of what’s happening to these people to no fault of their own,” Fud said.
