Snitch’n mobile app gives Eastern Iowans a new way to rat

Watch out, Eastern Iowa fugitives - there's a new way to snitch, rat or drop a dime.

A new mobile app called Snitch'n is being used by the 6th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services to post photos of more than 50 men and women who have escaped from halfway houses in Linn or Johnson counties or failed to show up for probation or parole meetings, triggering arrest warrants.

The free app, developed in Central Iowa, allows users to submit anonymous tips about the fugitives directly to the district, whose officers try to use the information to make arrests, said Gabe Schaapveld, the district's high-risk unit officer.

'We've got quite a few tips, good leads and three legitimate arrests that came from Snitch'n,” Schaapveld said.

The phrase 'drop a dime” comes from the old-fashioned idea of using a pay phone to make an anonymous police tip. Snitch'n is the modern version of telephone tip lines, such as Crime Stoppers, said Polk County Sheriff's Detective John Negrete, who came up with the idea.

Negrete took the concept to Simpson College's Emerge venture accelerator, where students help start-ups with the goal of being paid or gaining equity in the projects. Students developed the Snitch'n app for release last fall on iPhone and Android, said Chris Draper, Emerge director.

'The students earned equity proportional to the work they put in,” Draper said.

The Snitch'n developers make money when law enforcement agencies buy access licenses to post fugitive information. The cost for agencies is $1.99 per month, per authorized officer, Draper said.

So far, the 6th district, which includes probation and parole programs for Linn, Johnson, Jones, Iowa, Benton and Tama counties, is using Snitch'n for free as part of a trial to get more agencies on board, Schaapveld said. The district has posted fliers on city buses and at the Linn County Jail in hopes of getting more people to download the app.

Other agencies using Snitch'n so far are the 5th District Correctional Services and the Johnston Police Department, as well as one police department each in Oklahoma and Virginia.

About 16,000 people have downloaded the app so far, and agencies have received about 800 tips, Negrete said.

Many tipsters want to stay on the down low. They might fear for their safety or have not-so-savory records themselves. Snitch'n doesn't gather any identifiable information, so the law enforcement agencies can't trace tips. The downside of that is there's no reward, unlike Linn County Crime Stoppers, which offers $50 to $2,500 for eligible tips.

Schaapveld said he hasn't had anyone ask for money at this point, but a few tipsters have volunteered their contact information in case law enforcement officers want to follow up.