How it Works

Put simply, it is a three-part approach to solving the crime problem. It relies on cooperation between the police, the media, and the general community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals.

Mat-Su Crime Stoppers select a Crime of the Week, which is published in the local newspapers as well as radio and television.

Calls are received at a local Crime Stoppers telephone. The police Crime Stoppers liaison receives the information then evaluates it, makes initial inquiries, and then passes all information on to the investigating officer. No information regarding the identity of the caller is given to the investigating officer.

Because the caller is not required to give their name, Crime Stoppers allows the caller to give information in a positive atmosphere without the prospect of retribution. By offering cash rewards for information leading to arrests, the program encourages otherwise reluctant callers to volunteer information. Callers may be eligible for rewards of up to $1000 on Felony crimes.

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 capabilities allow the tipster to come back and provide additional information to their tip at any time, but also provides a secure means for the coordinator to ask questions or provide reward information back to the tipster through the same secure and encrypted interface.

Other community benefits are:

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.

Improved relationships between the community, law enforcement officials, and the media.

The public, through its overwhelming response, has accepted CrimeStoppers as a more palatable alternative to traditional methods of giving information.

Structure and Funding for CrimeStoppers:

Mat-Su CrimeStoppers, Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization. A Board of Directors provides direction as the financial and promotional activities of the program. The Board of Directors enhances the community involvement aspect, which is vital to the program’s success. The CrimeStoppers program is funded by private donations from concerned citizens and businesses as well as fund raising. No tax dollars are involved. The Board of Directors, made up of private citizens from the Mat-Su Borough, meets on a monthly basis to evaluate arrests and determine the size of rewards. Rewards are then distributed in a confidential manner to the callers.

Does Crime Stoppers Work?

The answer is quite simply yes. Since the start of Crime Stoppers, many calls have been received resulting in thousands of arrests and recovery of substantial amounts of 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 police 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.