Crime Stoppers of Reno County, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that authorizes rewards for individuals who anonymously call with tips that help solve crime.  Crime Stoppers is a partnership between the Community, the Media, and Law Enforcement that work in cooperation together to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals.

    Tips are accepted on all crimes that provide information that leads to the arrest or indictment of felony crime offenders and information that leads to the arrest of fugitives.  This includes any publicized request for information, such as a "Crime of the Week", and the Twenty-five Most Wanted fugitives list.

  Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards of up to $1,000.  By offering cash rewards for information leading to indictment or arrests, the program encourages otherwise reluctant callers to provide information.

  Crime Stoppers of Reno County receives tips anonymously on the Crime Stoppers tips phone line, via the web, and by text messaging.

The Phone Call

  The phone, which does not provide call ID, is answered by an out of state trained Crime Stoppers Call Center, and conversations are not recorded.  The Call Center operator completes the tips information and then forwards the tip to the Reno County Crime Stoppers Coordinator for review.  The information is then passed on to the investigating officer.

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 capabilties allow the tipster to come back and provide additional information to their tip at any time, but also provides a secure means for the Crime Stoppers trained individual taking the tip 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 Stoppers of Reno County is organized as a not-for-profit organization (Charity). A civilian community board of directors overseas the organization, sets policy, and provides direction for the financial and promotional activities of the program. The board of directors enhances the community involvement aspect, and its function is vital to the program's success.

  The Crime Stoppers program 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.

  The Board of Directors, which is made up of persons from throughout the Reno County 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 Reno Crime Stoppers in 1985, many calls have been received resulting in hundreds of arrests and the recovery of substantial amounts of drugs and property. Calls have included information about murder, robbery, rape, assaults, drug and firearm offenses.

  The success of a Crime Stoppers program cannot be purely judged on statistics, however, other benefits have come to notice:

• A greater awareness in the community that there is a crime problem.
• A willingness by the community to fight back against crime if it is given the opportunity and motivation.
• Improved relationships between police, media, and the community.

  Crime Stoppers is definitely here to stay. It has been accepted by law enforcement 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.