How Public Guards works
Five clear steps from your secure submission to authorized agency review.
Important: Who we are
Public Guards is 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.
In an emergency, call 911. Public Guards is not a substitute for emergency services.
- STEP 01
Choose your tip type
Pick Truly Anonymous if you do not want any identifying information shared with the agency, or Confidential if you are willing to allow follow-up. You can change your selection at any point before submitting.
- STEP 02
Provide incident details
Describe what happened, when and where it occurred, who was involved, and any additional context. Optional fields cover vehicles, weapons, drugs, and attachments.
- STEP 03
Select the agency or jurisdiction
Choose the state, county, city, and agency that has jurisdiction. If the tip relates to a correctional facility, you can select that as well.
- STEP 04
Submit securely
All submissions are encrypted in transit. For Truly Anonymous tips, identifying metadata such as IP address and browser identifiers is removed before delivery.
- STEP 05
Agency reviews and follows up
Authorized agency users review and triage the tip. For Confidential tips, the agency may follow up using the contact method you preferred.
What we don't promise
No system can guarantee absolute anonymity. Public Guards is designed to protect your identity by removing identifying metadata before delivery, but we encourage you to avoid sharing personally identifying details inside the tip narrative if you wish to remain anonymous.
- Privacy-protective anonymous submission workflow
- Secure tip routing to the correct jurisdiction
- Authorized agency access only