CARROLLTON — Carroll County has joined the Crime Stoppers program, which enables citizens to call in with anonymous tips about any crime committed in the area.
The program is new to Carroll County, although it was started in 1976 nationally. Supervisors voted to join the initiative at a recent meeting. Money for the program doesn’t come from taxpayer funds but from $2 of each fine collected from misdemeanor crimes other than parking violations.
In this area, Lt. Michael Johnson of the Greenwood Police Department runs Crime Stoppers, and he said it will be a great help to area law enforcement.
“We want to let people know they can help the sheriff solve crimes without any fear of reprisal,” Johnson said. “Since they don’t have to give their name, people feel freer to get involved in reporting crime.”
In Crime Stoppers, someone with knowledge of a crime can call the tip line (800-222-8477), or 222-TIPS. The phone is answered at a call center in La Porte, Texas. The tipster is given a code number, which he or she is responsible for keeping. The caller also is given a telephone number to get updates on the tip and a date to call to find out what has been done about it. If the tip leads to an arrest, the tipster can get a reward.
“Some places require prosecution and conviction before a reward is given, but not our program,” Johnson said. “If the tip leads to an arrest, the tipster can get a reward.”
One of the most beneficial aspects of the program is its anonymity. “The phones do not have caller ID, and no one is ever asked for their name or address,” Johnson said. “The center notifies me, and I then notify the appropriate law enforcement agency. They report each month on what has been done about the tip, so I answer the update line and report to the tipster. That line is a secure line that only receives calls, has no caller ID and is only answered by me,” he said.
The money from the $2 fees is sent to the state’s Public Safety Commission and then funneled back for use in the local programs. The money and the program are overseen by a local board as well as by the state’s advisory council to Crime Stoppers.
Money can also be donated to Crime Stoppers, Johnson said. It is used for the rewards and for other aspects of the program, such as paying the private call center.
Language is not a problem for the call center, which has employees fluent in many languages, he said.
Carroll County Sheriff Jerry Carver said he is happy to get involved in the program and feels it will be a help to his department. “People are apprehensive about getting involved in reporting crimes because of the threat of retaliation from the suspect or their family, so this will help them be able to be involved without worrying about anyone knowing who reported the tip,” Carver said. “I won’t know who called. Everything is kept confidential. We don’t want anyone’s name.”
“There’s no cost to the county for the program, since the money comes from fines and is sent in to the state. There’s already money in a fund for the county,” he said. “There’s a chance we can get some good tips that will lead to an arrest.”
Carver said the possibility of a reward may also motivate someone to give a tip, since people can get paid when the tip leads to an arrest.
Johnson said he hopes the program will help Carroll County. “It’s up to the people to make it work.”
