I said before, most people have no
idea how law enforcement agencies work. The main tool, the most
effective tool that law enforcement uses is the telephone.
Most sources of information on 'who committed the crime' come in from anonymous phone tips. Most is a weak term. I would guess that 85% of all leads come in from anonymous phone calls.
For a safer society we need two major additions to the anonymous phone line.
(1) We need an anonymous email and text line that is widely published. Hey, lets keep up with the technology, even it we are ten years late.
(2)We need to radically expand the number of agencies that use anonymous tip lines. In California we need anonymous tip lines for reporting violations of disability blue car parking signs, driving without a driver's license and Workers Compensation scofflaws. Those three I know don't have anonymous tip lines nor the staff to handle them and there must be many more.