The fight to protect our communities is not just up to law enforcement; it’s a partnership between your community and law enforcement. We look to you who live in these communities we protect to provide us with information about gun violence.
To make our communities safer, ATF is launching a new way to collect your tips involving firearms or to provide leads to help us prevent crimes from happening. Using your phone, tablet or computer, you will be able to tell us instantly and anonymously about crimes that may be happening in your communities that involve firearms, explosives, violent crime, or arson.
ATF values your privacy and is offering this service through reportit®, a mobile app that allows you to remain anonymous. With reportit® concerned citizens can report suspicious or unusual activities in real time while having the assurance that your identity will remain anonymous and confidential. reportit® makes it easy to create and submit a tip, and attach a photo or video, with confidence that the information is forwarded to us real time. With the time and location of the incident, we can better respond and provide the necessary resources quickly and efficiently. You will have the option to provide your personal information, but this will not be required to submit your tip. You can visit the reportit® website for more information on their service.
Our desire is to have a significant impact in keeping your communities safe, without violating your privacy. We need your help in our efforts to remove crime from your streets.
Submissions
ATF has partnered with reportit® to provide a simple to use mobile App that allows users to anonymously and confidentially submit tips about crimes that may be happening in your communities that involve firearms, explosives and arson and violent crime. reportit® is an independent entity that provides anonymous communication services to organizations around the world.
You can submit any tip about crimes that may be happening in your communities that involve firearms, explosives, arson and violent crime.
You can use your mobile device for the reportit® system. You can also continue to use our submission form on the ATF website, which is also anonymous.
Even though the reportit® app is in English, you can still report your tip in other languages. You can submit tips in 17 languages other than English: Spanish, French, Arabic, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Chinese, Dutch, Filipino, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Greek and Ukrainian. The multi-language function is available on the web mobile version only.
To submit tips in other languages you can:
- go to https://mobile.reportit.com on your phone and choose your language or
- send a text to 63975 using your local field division code, click on the reportit® link that’s texted back to you, choose your language and follow the prompts to report your tip. For example, if you have a tip for the ATF Chicago Field Division, send the code “ATFCHIC” to 63975. See below for your local field division.
| Field Division | Text Code or Click Link |
|---|---|
Atlanta | |
Baltimore | |
Boston | |
Charlotte | |
Chicago | |
Columbus | |
Dallas | |
Denver | |
Detroit | |
Houston | |
Kansas City | |
Los Angeles | |
Louisville | |
Miami | |
Nashville | |
Newark | |
New Orleans | |
New York | |
Philadelphia | |
Phoenix | |
San Francisco | |
Seattle | |
St. Paul | |
Tampa | |
Washington |
Device
The reportit® App has been developed to work on Android, iOS (Apple) and WebMobile platforms. In all three scenarios, we have developed methodology to ensure complete anonymity. reportit® on a mobile device communicates directly with the reportit® database and does not use SMS or cellular information, thus we do not have access to the users phone number or email information.
iOS (Apple) and Android devices are supported by the system. Users of other operating systems (e.g. Windows, RIM (Blackberry) etc.) will be able to use the system using the web app WebMobile.
You can access the system using WebMobile. WebMobile applications are accessed by using internet browser software such as Chrome or Safari. The first time you access the reportit® website (www.reportit.com) from your mobile device, reportit® generates a unique ID and stores it in the browser’s local storage. When you return to the site, reportit.com will recognize your settings. Since the ID created by reportit® is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus we do not have a way to identify the device being used. You can also continue to use the submit a tip webform on ATF's website that is also anonymous.
Anonymity
Yes
reportit®is not designed to track users of the system. If you choose to use the system to submit a tip, we are unable to track your device, track your location or track your identity in any other manner. ATF has chosen to use this system so that you can submit tips to us while respecting your need for privacy or anonymity.
In event of any emergency or active situation, please do not use this system. You should call 911 or your local police for immediate assistance.
If an award is offered, there will be special guidance on how to claim that reward from the ATF field division associated with your tip. To find the ATF field office near you, visit our page with the list of ATF field divisions.
Privacy
No device information is collected by ATF as part of this service. Your identity is completely anonymous to reportit®and ATF and your tip is only identifiable via a unique ID that has no connection to the device. Any information you submit is directed to ATF, who will disseminate the information to the appropriate field office. You can chose to provide your personal information, but please be aware that this is voluntary and not required.
Answer: You can read about the Department of Justice (DOJ) policies on the department’s policy page: https://www.justice.gov/doj/privacy-policy. The privacy policy describes what information is made available to the DOJ when you visit the department’s websites, and describes how that information is used and stored.
Your personal information does not need to be submitted in order to report a tip. Any information about you is collected only if you choose to provide your contact information, however please do not share your Social Security Number (SSN). If you choose to provide your location at the time you submit a tip, that information will be collected. ATF will also collect photos or videos if you choose to upload them.
ATF does not collect any information about your device. We do not have a way to identify the hardware being used.
You can access the system using WebMobile. WebMobile applications are accessed by using internet browser software such as Chrome or Safari. The first time you access the reportit® website (www.reportit.com) from your computer, reportit® generates a unique ID and stores it in the browser’s local storage. When you return to the site, reportit.com will recognize your settings. Since the ID created by reportit® is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus we do not have a way to identify the device being used.
You can also continue to use our submission form on the ATF website, which is also anonymous.
No. Android: reportit® captures a unique software ID that is randomly generated when the user first sets up the device and should remain constant for the lifetime of the your device. Since the value is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus we do not have a way to identify the hardware being used.
No. iOS: reportit® generates a random unique ID when you download the app. This ID is stored in iCloud so that you can access reports and answers if the app were to be reinstalled. Since the ID is created by reportit® and is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus we do not have a way to identify the hardware being used.
Security
No. Android: reportit® a unique software ID that is randomly generated when you first set up the device and should remain constant for the lifetime of the your device. Since the value is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus, we do not have a way to identify the hardware being used.
No. iOS: reportit® generates a random unique ID when you download the app. This ID is stored in iCloud so you can access reports and answers if the app were to be reinstalled. Since the ID is created by reportit® and is random, there is no connection to the device itself, thus we do not have a way to identify the hardware being used.
reportit® generates a device token for Android and iOS applications based upon the method outlined above to provide push notifications. If you agree to accept push notifications from reportit® during initial installation, the device token that is created during installation will be used to send push notifications to your device.
