Crime Stoppers tips rebounding from pandemic

May 7—The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down most parts of life in 2020, and even had an impact on criminal activity, as there were fewer people out and about to commit crimes.

But fewer people out meant fewer potential witnesses for the crimes that did occur. As a result, there were fewer tips to Owensboro Crime Stoppers.

That was true for 2021 as well, while the world was still in that half-open, half-closed stage of the pandemic. But Crime Stoppers board chairman Chris Brown says calls to the anonymous tip service have increased this year.

"The pandemic hurt us a little bit. I figure we lost 10 to 15% of our tips" in 2020, Brown said earlier this week. In 2020, the stop line received 466 tips. In 2021, the number was 467.

"Our average before the pandemic was in the 600-range," Brown said. Now, "we are pushing 400 (tips) for the first four months of this year."

Crime Stoppers bills itself on being anonymous, so people who have information about, say, a drug dealer don't end up being seen talking to police officers or testifying in court. That anonymity is guarded pretty strictly, largely because the service is in Canada, whose privacy laws won't be much impressed with a subpoena from an enterprising defense attorney.

The tip service also pays cash rewards when a lead results in an arrest. But board member Sam Byrd said a fair number of those rewards end up going unclaimed.

"Every meeting, we have two or three (rewards) turned back" because they haven't been claimed within the 60-day window, Byrd said. While a person can receive their reward after 60 days, money isn't the motive for a number of people who provide a tip, Byrd said.

"Quite a few (people), like me, just like to see the bad guys off the streets," Byrd said.

The system works in a number of ways. Since Crime Stoppers originally started as a call service, people with Owensboro crime tips can call 270-687-8484.

There's also a link to send tips on the Owensboro Police Department Web site, and there's even a phone app for the truly tech savvy.

Here's what happens. The call, (or message) goes to Crime Stoppers in Canada. The basic information is taken; the message is scrubbed of any details that would identify the tipster, and the tip is sent back to Owensboro, where it is shared with OPD or the sheriff's department.

Once a tip is received from Crime Stoppers, it's run down by investigators, the way any other tip would be, Brown said.

"There should never be an arrest made on a Crime Stoppers tip" without a detective first checking out if the information is correct, Brown said.

Canada's privacy laws are stricter than those in the United States. U.S. courts can't force a Canada-based firm like Crime Stoppers to hand over any information about a tipster, OPD public information officer Andrew Boggess said.

OPD doesn't have a way of contacting a tipster directly either, Brown said. If more information is needed, Crime Stoppers in Canada would be able to send the tipster a follow-up message, Brown said.

As with any tips OPD receives, there are more misses than hits.

That's not people being dishonest: Witnesses can be wrong, and mistakes can be made.

For example, during an investigation into a fatal hit-and-run that killed a teen in Daviess County, detectives put out a general description of the vehicle involved. The public provided numerous tips, but many pointed to a man who owned a similar vehicle, but who wasn't involved in the incident.

A Crime Stoppers tip helped lead detectives to the correct person, and he was later convicted of reckless homicide and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

But even a tip that doesn't point to the right person is still useful information, Brown said.

"It's just as important to weed (possible suspects) out," he said.

Crime Stoppers helped strengthen the case against a suspect in a homicide investigation last year, Brown said. But not all tips are for such high-profile cases as homicides.

"The majority of our tips are drug tips," Brown said. In theory, a tip could be one drug dealer calling the police on another — but if the end result is one less drug dealer on the street, does the caller's motive matter? Not so much."

People do get paid for their tips, if a tip proves useful.

Like the tip system, collecting a reward is also done with privacy in mind: The tipster is given a code, which he or she takes to a certain bank. They're given an envelope with their reward, and go on their way, no names exchanged and no questions asked.

A tip can pay up to $1,000. But really, not everyone who is eligible for a reward collects.

"I would say the majority of the people who call Crime Stoppers are not in it for the money," Brown said. "They are in it to clean up the neighborhood and help the community."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse