Recently, it came to light that Suffolk police inadvertently revealed a Crime Line caller’s information to the suspect he had turned in.

A series of unfortunate circumstances, it seems, led to the serious mistake. A man called Crime Line to report the location of a man wanted on warrants for felony hit and run. For some reason, he gave his name to the clerk who took the call, even though Crime Line callers are never required to give their names or appear in court.

Then, the clerk who took the call printed the information form and put it with the arrest warrants for the suspect — something that should not have happened. According to a city spokeswoman, those forms only are supposed to go to the Crime Line coordinator.

Upon the suspect’s arrest, the arresting officer inadvertently handed the suspect a copy of the information form, containing the tipster’s name and phone number. Because the form was not supposed to be with the arrest warrants, the officer did not recognize it for what it was.

The tipster has said he’s been harassed and forced to move because of the release of his information. He’s also notified the city, through a lawyer, that a lawsuit is in the works.

At this point, there’s nothing that can be done for the man whose information was released. The damage has been done.

However, police officials were right to act immediately upon discovering the issue. According to the city spokeswoman, Police Chief Thomas Bennett immediately conducted an investigation and made changes to the program to prevent the problem from happening again. In addition, he’s invited Crime Line experts from nearby cities to probe all aspects of the program in Suffolk to ensure the proper procedures are being followed.

The release of the tipster’s information was a serious and inexcusable mistake, but it was still a mistake that has never happened before in the 25 years of Suffolk’s participation in the Crime Line program. The police department has taken immediate action to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The public can still have confidence their information will be confidential when they call the Crime Line.