The Greenwood City Council has authorized the formation of a Crime Stoppers program for Greenwood.
In 1994, the city set aside $10,000 in a criminal investigation reward fund, but the money was never used.
No one ever made a claim on it, Mayor Harry Smith told the council at its Tuesday night meeting.
Now the council wants to use the money to set up a Crime Stoppers program - right away.
"We must do something. We have had two people killed in our city," said Council President David Jordan, referring to the recent shooting deaths of Jonathan McCoy, 19, and Sharon Hunt, 39, in the McLaurin Street area.
Police arrested Hunt's son, Rordera Hunt, 16, of 215 E. McLaurin St., and accused him of shooting McCoy.
Police Chief Henry Harris said he and Margaret Cooper, who runs Crime Stoppers for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, plan to meet next week.
Crime Stoppers offer rewards of up to $1,000 for information about crimes, mainly felonies. A private board of citizens who are not employed in law enforcement decides on the amounts.
City Attorney Billy Bowman estimated it make take two months to launch the program. He outlined a series of steps required before Crime Stoppers could get under way in Greenwood.
"It's going to take 60 days to get through the red tape?" Jordan inquired.
Bowman responded, "I just got the authority today to start it."
The program must follow state law, Bowman said, which includes the formation of a private non-profit
organization chartered by the secretary of state.
He promised to send the articles of incorporation to Jackson by the end of the week.
"This is a separate and distinct corporation from the city of Greenwood," Bowman said.
Also, the council made plans for ward-by-ward representation on the citizens board.
Harris will announce a coordinator from the police department.
A special telephone number has to be set up for Crime Stoppers, and only one person in the department may answer that line, Bowman said.
With Crime Stoppers, names of tipsters are not taken. Identification numbers are used instead to ensure that the name of any person giving information about a crime cannot be released.
