880-CARE Text Line
Community partners launch 880-TEXT text line - 8/14/2009
Star Valley Prevention, under grant management of High Country Counseling of Afton, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) have partnered with Silver Star PCS to develop a Text Line Reporting system. This new reporting system will assist in fighting underage drinking, binge drinking in adults, and other problems of abuse, and any other crimes that plague the local community.
Alesia Winters, Star Valley Prevention Specialist, was first introduced to such a program in the Evanston, Wyoming, community. The Evanston community partnered with Crimestoppers and has experienced great success with their program. She then approached Silver Star PCS and the LCSO to explore the possibility of implementing a similar program in Star Valley. All parties agreed it was a worthwhile project. Lieutenant Brian Andrews stated “We felt that with the amount of texting that our youth do in our valley it could be a valuable resource to help keep our community safe.”
Ms. Winters was thrilled at the partnership. “Families and friends in our community will have another confidential mechanism to report dangerous behaviors of an unsafe nature. Reporting problems such as, drunk drivers, domestic violence, suicide prevention, underage drinking, child or elder abuse and drug related issues.”
“The number chosen fit the nature of our project. We all care about our community and believe we needed an avenue that allows citizens to take more ownership in community safety,” commented Carl Harris, Operations Manager for High Country Counseling. Mr. Harris goes on to say “The number is a perfect choice and hard to forget.” The group encourages all residents to save the number on their cell phones.
Silver Star PCS will pay for the cost of the operation of the 880- CARE text line. Text reporting will consist of a text line large screen display that is plugged into a BlackBerry phone, also donated by Silver Star PCS. In addition, Barbara Sessions, Sales Manager for Silver Star PCS, provided training to assist dispatchers in how to read text messages. “I learned a little more texting lingo that I didn’t know before, stated Communication Officer Shaleen Statham.
The dispatchers will be notified by an alarm system that will signal an incoming message, and they will disperse needed information to local officers. Because dispatchers will not be able to contact the person making the report, all incoming text reports will have to identify the time and place of the incident, as well as any available details. Sheriff Shane Johnson believes this is a project that will benefit the community now and in the years to come. “The goal of this project is to make text reporting easy, fast and confidential. This text line will be a great asset to our community.”
Star Valley Prevention hopes to gain community support through their 880- CARE educational campaign. Ms. Winters plans to visit area businesses asking them to prominently display 880-CARE posters in their windows or business. 880- CARE Text Line magnets will be available at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office booth and the Silver Star PCS booth during the Lincoln County Fair, as well as at their offices.