What is Crime Stoppers?
Crime
Stoppers
began in
Albuquerque,
New Mexico
in September
of 1976.
Members of
the local
community,
in
partnership
with the
media and
law
enforcement,
began an
effort to
provide
crime-solving
assistance
to law
enforcement.
A cash
reward was
offered to
anonymous
persons who
telephone
the Crime
Stoppers hot
line with
information
which led to
the arrest
and
indictment
of the
person(s)
responsible
for felony
offenses.
The Crime
Stoppers
program has
enjoyed
great
success
boasting an
average
conviction
rate of 95%
on cases
solved by
Crime
Stoppers'
tips. The
Crime
Stoppers
programs
worldwide
have solved
over a half
a million
crimes and
recovered
over 3
billion
dollars
worth of
stolen
property and
narcotics.
Today, there
are over
1,000 Crime
Stoppers
programs in
the United
States,
Canada,
United
Kingdom,
Australia,
South
Africa,
Bahamas,
British West
Indies,
Micronesia,
and other
nations.
Why Do We
Need Crime
Stoppers?
Crime
Stoppers is
based on the
principal
that
"Someone
other than
the criminal
has
information
that can
solve a
crime" and
was created
to combat
the three
major
problems
faced by law
enforcement
in
generating
that
information:
 |
Fear of
REPRISAL
|
|
An
attitude
of
APATHY
|
|
Reluctance
to get
INVOLVED
|
Crime
Stoppers
resolves
these
problems by:
|
Offering
ANONYMITY
to
people
who
provide
information
about
crimes.
|
|
Paying
REWARDS
when the
information
supplied
leads to
arrest.
|
The three
essential
elements
that make up
a Crime
Stopper
Program are:
THE
COMMUNITY
Citizens are
responsible
for forming
a Crime
Stoppers
non-profit
corporation,
whose
directors
establish
policy,
determine
amount and
method of
reward
payments,
work closely
with the
police and
the media
and
generally
oversee the
program. The
directors
are also
responsible
for fund
raising, and
all
volunteer
service. Tax
money is not
sought.
THE MEDIA
Crime
Stoppers
methods,
objectives,
successes
and phone
numbers are
publicized
on a regular
basis by the
media. An
unsolved
"Crime of
the Week" is
given
special
treatment
with details
published in
newspapers,
on radio and
in certain
cases a
re-enactment
on
television.
THE
POLICE
A special
Crime
Stoppers
phone with a
well
publicized
number is
provided to
the
community.
Callers are
assigned a
special Code
number and
NEVER give
their names.
If, after
the
investigation,
the
information
leads to an
arrest, the
caller is
entitled to
a reward.
