How it Works

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

The Phone Call

Calls are received through the Crime Stoppers tip line, 309-762-9500. There is no caller ID and conversations are not recorded. The Crime Stoppers operator receiving the information completes the tip information form and then passes the information to the investigating agency. Tips are accepted regarding any unsolved felony crime, felony fugitive or drug activity.

By guaranteeing a caller's anonymity 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 provide information.

The Online WebTip

Tipsters 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.

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 coordinator 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 the Quad Cities is organized as a not for profit organization. A civilian community board of directors provides direction as to 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.

Our 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.

A community board of directors, made up of concerned citizens from throughout the area, meets on a monthly basis to evaluate arrests and to decide on the size of rewards to be paid, up to $2,500. Rewards are then distributed in a private manner to the callers. Callers are eligible for rewards up to $2,500. However, some of our callers choose not to collect their reward and just want to do what is right.

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 drugs and property. Calls have included information about murder, robbery, rape, assaults, drug and firearm offenses.

The success of Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities cannot be purely judged on statistics, however. Other 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 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 safe and secure method of giving information.