CRIME STOPPERS is working on a way to keep up with technology and let people continue to provide tips anonymously through new ways of communication.
At its next meeting next month, Crime Stoppers members will discuss asking for assistance from the Crime Stoppers association so they can go looking for financing to help pay for a system to be set up so people can provide tips online or by texting.
The association doesn’t provide money but by going through it, the members here might be able to get a better deal on the cost of setting up texting, which is quite expensive, says Crime Stoppers member Vivian Raposo.
Besides money, the other challenge is to set up the online or texting tip system while keeping the tipsters anonymous.
Whether the new system of tipping will bring in more tips isn’t known and Raposo says a lot of times people give a tip that provides a lead but they don’t collect their reward money.
“I think it’s good citizens who want to do something but don’t want to put their neck out,” says Raposo about why people don’t come collect their reward.
The next Crime Stoppers meeting is Sept. 21 and it’s open to anyone who’s interested, adds Raposo.
If the board approves the members’ request, it could be about a month before it hears back from the association, says Raposo.