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Philadelphia Police Monitoring Their New Texting Address: PPDTIP

By Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There's a new way to get in touch with Philadelphia police: you can let your fingers do the talking.

Have a tip?  You can now text the cops at "773847," according to Lt. Ray Evers, who explains that it's the same as PPDTIP.

Evers says you can send photos, text, or other info:

"Whatever you want to send us.  If it's information about an officer, a crime, a neighborhood problem, we'll get it to the right city agency."

He says they watch for tips 24/7, "and push it out to the division or district that can take some action on that information."

But Evers says it's not meant for emergencies.

"If you see a crime in progress or something that's happening, we still want you to call 911," he advises -- unless making noise would put you in jeopardy.

Evers suggests adding PPDTIP (again, that's 773847) to your cell phone contacts.

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