Tracie Mauriello, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Police in the nation’s capital have turned teens’ texting prowess into a crime-fighting tool, and Mayor Nutter is bringing the idea home from last week’s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

“The idea of it is exciting,” Nutter said Thursday after participating in a panel on youth violence.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who was also on the panel, said her program and its slogan – “Give the 5-0 the 411” – have helped police stay ahead of violent criminals. Nutter says he thinks it could work in Philadelphia, too.

Teens who are reluctant to speak on the phone to adults, let alone police officers, have no problems letting their fingers do the talking on cellphone keyboards. About 1,200 tips came in by text last year, Lanier said.

“The detail that we get on those text tips has been unbelievable,” she said. “If there’s a beef that wells up in the schools, we’re getting names, addresses, descriptions of vehicles, everything – before the violence even starts.”

Nutter is vice president of the conference and convened the panel out of his interest in combating violence by and against black males.

In Philadelphia, nearly 75 percent of homicide victims in 2011 were black men; in other cities, the statistics are worse. Panelist Mitchell Landrieu, the mayor of New Orleans, said 91.5 percent of homicide victims and 97 percent of perpetrators in his city are African American.

“Those are horrible statistics,” Nutter said. “If you had statistics like that for train accidents or automobile accidents or from opening bags of bad spinach, there would be warnings out. It would be seen as a national crisis.”

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