How it Works
Put simply it is a tripartite approach to solving the crime problem. Crime Stoppers relies on cooperation between the police, the media, and the general community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals.
The Contact...
Calls, smartphone messages or web tips are received by Crime Stoppers of Racine County. These contacts are all secure in protecting the tipsters anonymity. For example, the telephone is a stand alone instrument which does not provide caller ID, and conversations are not recorded. The Crime Stoppers or Racine County Coordinator receiving the information completes the tips information form, makes initial inquiries and then passes the information to the investigating officer. Calls are accepted regarding any publicized request for information, such as "Crime of the Week" or such other crime(s) for which the caller has knowledge.
By guaranteeing a caller's anonymity, Crime Stoppers of Racine County allows the caller to give information in a positive atmosphere without the prospect of retribution. By offering cash rewards for information leading to arrests or capturing criminals, the program encourages otherwise reluctant callers to provide information.
The Online WebTip
Tipsters now have the option of giving us tips online. The process is completely secure and anonymous and is a very effective and efficient means of safely communicating with us in today's world. Our WebTip process is powered by the world's leading online tip solution provider, Anderson Software.
The very unique integrated Two-Way Dialog capabilities allow the tipster to come back and provide additional information to their tip at any time, but also provides a secure means for the coordinator to ask questions or provide reward information back to the tipster through the same secure and encrypted interface.
Structure and Funding of Crime Stoppers
Crime Stopper of Racine County, Inc. is organized as a not for profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization. A civilian community board of directors provides direction as to the financial and promotional activities of the program. The board of directors enhances the community involvement aspect, and its function is vital to the programs success.
Crime Stoppers of Racine County is funded by private donations and fund raising. NO TAX DOLLARS are involved. The reward money paid out by the program is from the fund raising and donations from concerned citizens and businesses.
A community board of directors, made up of persons from throughout the area, meets on a monthly basis to evaluate arrests and to decide on the size of rewards to be paid, up to $1,000. Rewards are then distributed in a private manner to the callers. Callers are eligible for rewards up to $1,000, but, despite this, many callers choose not to collect their rewards.
Does Crime Stoppers Work?
The answer is quite simply yes. Since the start of Crime Stoppers, many calls have been received resulting in thousands of arrests and recovery of substantial amounts of property. Calls have included information about murder, robbery, rape, assaults, drug and firearm offenses.
Crime Stoppers of Racine County has cleared over 2,330 cases in Racine County, leading to over 2,230 arrests, since our inception in 1989. Crime Stoppers of Racine County has also been responsible in recovering stolen property in the amount of over $225,000 and drug seizures of over $ 317,000! Since Crime Stoppers provides rewards for anonymous tips, we have paid out $145,000 in rewards to tipsters. Remember, Crime Stoppers is and independent, charitable organization governed by community citizens and no tax dollars are used in operating the Crime Stoppers program!
However, the success of a Crime Stoppers program cannot be purely judged on statistics, however, other benefits have come to notice:
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A greater awareness in the community that there is a crime problem.
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A willingness by the community to fight back against crime if it is given the opportunity and motivation.
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Improved relationships between police, media, and the community.
Crime Stoppers is definitely here to stay. It has been accepted by police as a valid and effective investigative tool and the public, through its overwhelming response, appears to have accepted it as a more palatable alternative to traditional methods of giving information.