You speak up.
The right people listen.
Public Guards is a quiet line between the people who notice something and the agency that can do something about it. No phone trees. No reception desk. No name required.
"I saw something. I wrote it down. I picked a PIN. A week later I checked back and there was a message waiting from a detective."
In an emergency, call 911. Public Guards is for non-emergency tips and follow-up information, not a substitute for emergency services.
The journey of a tip
Five small steps. One person who'll read it.
This is what actually happens between the moment you start typing and the moment a human at the right agency opens your tip.
- 1
Step one
Tell us where it happened
Pick the state, county, and city. That single choice is how your tip finds its way to the agency that actually has jurisdiction, instead of bouncing between switchboards.
Most people finish this in under a minute.
- 2
Step two
Say what you saw, in your own words
Write the story the way you'd tell a friend. Add a date and place if you can. There are optional spots for things like a vehicle, a weapon, or files. Use the ones that fit, skip the rest.
No required jargon. No forms-within-forms.
- 3
Step three
Decide how much of yourself to share
Name, phone, and email are all optional. Share them if you'd like the agency to follow up directly. Leave them blank and your tip is still received. Fully confidential.
You're in control of every field.
- 4
Step four
Choose a 4–8 digit PIN
Before you submit, pick a short PIN that only you know. When you press send, you'll also receive a unique reference number. The two together are your private key back into the tip.
Save them somewhere you'll remember.
- 5
Step five
Come back anytime to check in
Open the Track page, enter your reference number and PIN, and you'll see status updates from the reviewing staff. You can also send and receive messages with them, still without revealing who you are.
Real two-way conversations, on your terms.
What we protect
Built so the only person who can read your tip is the one who should.
Confidentiality isn't a marketing word here. It's the way the system is wired. Tips are scoped to a single agency, access inside that agency is role-based, and every action is written to an audit log no staff member can edit.
Important: Who we are
Public Guards is a service of Public Guards LLC, an independent, privately-operated technology platform. We are not a law enforcement agency, government entity, or part of Crime Stoppers, and we are not affiliated with any such organization. We may partner with law enforcement agencies and Crime Stoppers programs solely to route submitted tips to the appropriate recipient. Submitting a tip through Public Guards does not constitute contacting law enforcement.
Encrypted on the way in
Your submission is transmitted and stored with industry-standard encryption.
Routed by jurisdiction
The agency responsible for where the incident happened can see the full tip, along with authorized Public Guards staff who help coordinate and support the review process.
Role-based access inside the agency
Staff see tips based on their role and assignment, and every view is recorded.
Your PIN, not ours
Status and messages are gated behind a PIN that you set and we never store in plain text.
Honest, not slick
What we don't promise
No platform on the internet can promise perfect anonymity, and we won't either. Public Guards is designed to protect your identity, with encryption, jurisdictional routing, role-based agency access, and a full audit trail. But details you write into the narrative itself can still identify you. If you'd rather not be known, leave personal details out of the story too.
We also comply with valid subpoenas and court orders. If you want to read the full legal picture, our privacy approach spells it out plainly.
Ready when you are.
Take three minutes. Write what you know. We'll get it to the right desk.