By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Tips have helped the St. Joseph Police Department as well as the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department solve crime, but those tips have fallen off sharply.
St. Joseph Police Officer Gregg Lewis, president of the Greater St. Joseph Crimestoppers Board says it appears some residents believe they are providing tips by logging on to various crime social media pages, but that isn’t the case.
“All the tips you give through the TIPS Hotline are anonymous. If you’re putting this information out on the crime pages, it’s not anonymous for the most part. Your name’s attached to it somewhere,” Lewis tells reporters after a board meeting. “So, people know that you’re putting the information out there. If you use the TIPS Hotline, it’s an anonymous tip that we get. We have no way to know who’s giving that information.”
Lewis says while the hotline used to receive more than 600 calls a year, it now receives around half that.
Also, there is an incentive to call or log on to the TIPS Hotline.
“Rewards are offered, up to $1,000,” Lewis says. “We’re happy to pay the rewards. We don’t pay a whole lot of rewards anymore. We used to pay a lot more rewards, also. And just because the numbers are down with the calls coming in, the rewards are down also. Not that we don’t want to pay it, it’s just that people aren’t requesting the rewards.”
Lewis says the Greater St. Joseph Crimestoppers Board wants to raise awareness about the TIP Hotline.
“Raise awareness that it’s still there,” Lewis says. “It’s still a vital piece of the police department and law enforcement is using this TIPS Hotline.”
You can leave tips by calling 816-238-TIPS or online at P3TIPS.com or by downloading the P3 TIPS app on your phone.