Student tip line allows Milan students to text SROs

MILAN, Tenn. — One local police department is connecting with students in a unique way, one text at a time.

The Milan Police Department is reaching out to younger generations on platforms they are most comfortable with.

“We often see how technology outside of school impacts what they bring into school, so how can we use that same medium to kind of help us out?” Milan High School Assistant Principal Greg Scott said.

The student tip line is a cell phone the school resource officers in the Milan School System have on them 24/7. Students can text at any time if they know of something going on.

“We just want the kids to know and understand that when they do send a tip, those guys are not going to call them out or put them on the spot,” Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said.

Chief Sellers said they teamed up with the school system after seeing positive results from having SROs in their schools over the last few years.

They said they hope this new tip line continues that progress and helps prevent future incidents.

“It could be a tool that to give us an eight- or 10-hour head start instead of waiting until the next school day of trying to head off any potential problems,” the chief said.

Officials say they didn’t create the tip line in reaction to anything negative going on in the schools but rather to be proactive and to help students build relationships with law enforcement now and after graduation.

“Many kids, when they get out of school they want to go down the wrong path, and these guys are out there in schools trying to make a difference at an early age,” Chief Sellers said.

Tip line posters will also be set up in places kids hang out after school, like the library and the local YMCA.

The cell phone used by the police department is a Verizon phone that was donated for them to use at no cost to the police department.