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In separate announcements yesterday, the city unveiled two new programs that use text messaging to communicate city services.

In a joint press conference with Police Supt. Jody Weis and Schools CEO Arne Duncan, Crime Stoppers of Cook County announced a new program where students in 10 public schools can anonymously text the police if they hear about a gun, a fight or drugs in school. "Practically every student these days has a cell phone. Students are texting each other messages faster than they can dial a number,'' Weis said. "We want them to text a tip to the police -- a tip that could potentially save their life or someone else's." Crime Stoppers is even offering a reward if the tip leads to an arest - up to $1,000 for murder cases. Messages must begin with "cpd", and will be routed to Canada first, where they will be encrypted and forwarded to the police without a phone number.

Mayor Daley is also getting into texting as well. City officials are asking residents to sign up to receive emergency text messages from the city, such as severe weather warnings or information about terrorist attacks. Daley called the technology "a great step forward," noting that "it is very critical for public safety agencies do their part to stay in tune with the latest tools to keep the residents safe."

You can sign up for the city's text messages here, even if you don't live in Chicago. City officials said that emergency text messages are also useful to suburbanites commuting in, or people with family in the city.