You can help protect schools and places of worship with the new BCA app
Aug. 26, 2021
No matter where or how you worship or learn, your church and school should be among the places you feel safest. And although you can and should depend on law enforcement to ensure that safety, the fact is that it's a team effort. After all, law enforcement has always relied on the public to report threatened criminal activity.
As a way to facilitate that teamwork, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) uses an app called See It, Say It, Send It. If you haven't already, you'll soon see information about this app at the gas station, hear about it on your smart phone, and see it on social media. Hopefully, you'll never need it—but if at some point you learn about planned or threatened violence at a Minnesota school or place of worship, you can use the app to report it.
When you send in a tip using the app, the BCA will triage it, notify local law enforcement, and assist as needed with the response to criminal activity. If the tip is about a school but doesn't involve criminal activity, they'll work with the Minnesota School Safety Center, the Minnesota Department of Education, and schools to determine the appropriate response. If the tip is about a place of worship, the BCA will notify local law enforcement and coordinate with the religious facility's leadership on a response.
Remember that the See It, Say It, Send It app is for reporting planned or threatened criminal activity—something that might happen in the future. If you're aware of an ongoing incident or immediate threat, always call or text 911 first. Similarly, the app is not intended to replace local law enforcement or an existing school or religious facility security plan, but rather supplement it.
Whether you have an
Android or an
iPhone, you can download the app for free. You can access it from your cell phone and other mobile devices. If you want to share the tip anonymously, you can.
The See It, Say It, Send It app is a way for you to be part of Minnesota's crime fighting community – and help keep your school and place of worship safe.
