Whenever detectives are called to respond to an active crime scene in Prince George’s County, evidence vans are usually right there in Maryland alongside them to help process the scene. Behind those vans, often enough, can be a group of onlookers who live nearby.
In recent years, Crime Solvers has added a mobile app to go with the nonprofit group’s website. Now, it’s also plastering a QR code onto those evidence vans to drive more traffic, and more anonymous tips, to its website and into the hands of detectives.
“We’re trying to reach people where they are. As the millennials came in and they started being more tech savvy, we had to change our process to reach them and to get the information from them,” said William Steen, chairman of Crime Solvers in Prince George’s County.
The QR codes on each side of the vans are big enough that you don’t have to be standing near them to subtly scan them to launch the Crime Solvers website.
However, it’s hard to definitively say that the placement of the codes is having any kind of impact.
The process that Crime Solvers uses ensures that no one knows whether you scanned the QR code, searched for the website, or even called or texted the information to provide the tip, much less where you were when you did all that.
The process remains totally anonymous, which is a key aspect in driving more tips.
“A lot of people just want to give the information, but don’t want to be involved,” Steen said. “They don’t want to be recognized by the possible offender or suspect. They just want to give the information to give the family closure.”
Lately, the number of tips received through Crime Solvers has been going up.
“Our numbers have increased monthly since we’ve had the vans out on the street,” said Steen.
The hope is that growth continues as more vehicles with the QR codes on them get put out on the streets. Steen said some of the municipal departments around the county will also start participating.
Of course, even after the tips come in, it’s on the investigators to follow through and corroborate the information. But lately, that’s been happening more often, too.
Since the QR codes were put on the vans, “what we have seen is that the tips that we receive, recently, have been more quality tips,” said Steen. “Tips that we can actually use to send to the investigators to help close the case.”
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