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Last month, police in The Hague sent out a text message to neighborhood residents reporting a boat theft. An hour later, an alert citizen called in to say she saw the boat. The thief was apprehended and captured.

Using text messages to send timely public service alerts is certainly nothing new. In the U.S., the AMBER Alert system sends thousands of text messages to opt-in subscribers when it is discovered a child has been kidnapped. Some regional governments send crime alerts and even warnings of severe weather to cell phone subscribers.

What has not gained as much traction up until now, is tapping into the large cell phone user base to gather information via text messaging from the citizenry, rather than just pushing alerts out in a one-way communication channel.

However, in June, the Boston Police Department together with VeriSign rolled out a new “tip line” system bound to appeal more to more mobile or younger citizens: the first of its kind, it operates entirely over SMS.

Under the “Text a Tip” system, witnesses can text the word “TIP” to a number that is received by VeriSign and then forwarded to the Boston PD with all identifying information (including cell phone numbers) removed. This assures anonymity for the tipster.

Once the SMS is sent, the witness will receive automated messages that ask specific questions regarding crime categories, physical description of suspects, weapon types and other useful details. Witnesses can provide the information, still remaining anonymous, by replying to the messages.

Using a special interface, police officers can exchange messages with the witness in real time, to obtain additional details.

The Boston PD has not commented on whether text message tips have led to any arrests yet, but over time it would seem reasonable to think that an anonymous text message tip line would generate more, and more timely, tips than the traditional switchboard.