Last year was an exceptional year for Crime Stoppers of Michigan. The much lauded organization experienced a 7 percent increase in successful tips over 2014, receiving a total of 197 successful tips which lead to 209 arrests; 195 of those for felonies. Crime Stoppers tips helped solve one arson, three car jackings, seven robberies and fifteen homicides. Detroit tips were up by nearly nine percent over the previous year. Nearly $90,000.00 was awarded to tipsters for information provided that assisted law enforcement across the region. Every other day in 2015, Crime Stoppers of Michigan provided information to law enforcement that assisted them in an investigation or arrest.
Crime Stoppers success stories of 2015 were the solving of the homicide of a pastor, a well-known community activist who was a father of six and a Sinai Grace team leader of twenty-one years. Other solved crimes include: a sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Detroit; a hit and run of a mother in Detroit; a shooting of an 18-year-old in Greektown; an armed robbery at a hotel in Harper Woods; a bank robbery in Grosse Pointe Woods; capturing of carjackers at a gas station in Detroit; a home invasion in Grosse Isle; an auto theft in Flint; a narcotics operation shut down in Ypsilanti, and the arrests of wanted fugitives in Monroe and Oakland Counties..
It was also a banner year for Crime Stoppers faith based program. One of the high points for the program in 2015 was the We Speak Up sign campaign. One hundred signs have been installed in front of churches across the metropolitan Detroit area, with another fifty churches awaiting signs and more making requests for the highly effective crime reporting signs. The high visibility of the campaign helped Crime Stoppers receive 589 Detroit tips from the period of Sept. 23 through Nov. 30. That’s an increase of 117 tips — or 25 percent — over the same time period from the previous year.
The Project Safe Campus program is also showing success in the schools. Many crimes are being solved or prevented such as drugs, weapons, acts of bullying, thefts, vandalism and potential suicides.
The reality is that Crime Stoppers has been experiencing increased success for the last three years. Over that time period, 19,362 anonymous tips have been received leading to 600 arrests and $259,455 awarded to tipsters. Among the cases solved by anonymous tips were fifty-six homicides, thirty-eight robberies, four car jackings and two arsons. In addition, 216 fugitives were apprehended and 110 narcotics operations shut down.
The community is made safer when everyone works together to put criminals behind bars. Setting this new record proves that. CSM offers a safe way for residents to provide anonymous information about criminals in their neighborhoods. CSM’s program is successful because it guarantees anonymity. Tipsters are never asked for any identifying information and neither phone numbers nor email addresses are ever known. No one knows the identity of a tipster, including CSM. This gives people the freedom to speak up without the fear of retaliation.
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