TIPS Hotline opens mouths and breaks cases

crime-stoppers

Witnesses to crime who don’t want to come forward will sometimes anonymously provide information for money.

Last year, The Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline led to 163 arrests, 227 cases cleared, and six solved homicides.

It also resulted in getting property and narcotics worth $111,024 and the recovery of 14 firearms – all for a total of $26,500 paid out to anonymous tipsters.

Crime Stoppers announced the results Monday for what was their 33rd year of operation.

From Wikipedia:

The first crime stoppers began in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 1975, after a filling station worker was murdered.

After two weeks, police went to a television station, requested a reconstruction of the crime and offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to arrest of the killers.

A man called identifying a car that left the scene at high speed and gave its registration. He said he had not called earlier because he did not want to get involved.

Detective Greg MacAleese realized that fear and apathy were the main reasons people kept silent.

He designed a system in which people could anonymously provide details for a reward, combined with using every media opportunity to publicize the unsolved crime and reward.

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