$25,000 reward greatly increases homicide tips

I am grateful to announce that two Kansas City, Missouri, homicides have been solved in the last month thanks to anonymous tips that carry a reward of $25,000 each. Both of those tips came in after the June 21 press conference announcing the $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in homicides that occurred in Kansas City, Missouri.

For many, $25,000 is life-changing money. We also hope it will change the lives of families who are grieving with no sense of justice over who killed their loved ones. The trend is certainly looking good. According to numbers from Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers, since the press conference announcing the reward increase, there have been 58 tips submitted on Kansas City, Missouri, homicides. Compare that to the month prior (May 20 – June 20, 2019), when there were only 23 KCMO homicide tips. That’s an increase of more than 150% month over month.

The reward increase is not just benefiting KCMO, but the whole metropolitan area. Citywide, homicide tips (including those from KCMO) went from 39 to 87, a 123% month-over-month increase.

Our hope is that the $25,000 reward will create so much fear of being turned in that those who might consider bringing a firearm along to solve a dispute or rob someone will think otherwise. Already, the numbers are showing that people are a lot more willing to share what they know for $25K.

We are working with our many partners to fund a robust, multi-media campaign to ensure everyone knows what “good money” it is. The campaign will especially focus on areas of Kansas City, Mo., most impacted by violence. It will be working on the street-level to ensure every single person affected by violent crime knows about the $25,000 reward.

Working with the community, we can bring justice for those already impacted by homicide and prevent future killings.

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Crime Stoppers benefits us all

What if there were a way to tell police what you knew about a crime without fear of retribution or retaliation, AND you could get a cash reward for that information? There is, and it’s been solving crimes in the Kansas City metro area since 1982.

Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers provides a valuable resource to our department and many others: a way for tipsters to tell police what they know while remaining anonymous. Since their inception 33 years ago, KC Crime Stoppers has helped police arrest suspects in 614 murders and 1,628 robberies, among other crimes, and it’s cleared 24,349 cases. They’ve also paid out more than $1.3 million in reward money. Through February of this year alone, Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers has cleared 50 cases, including violent crimes like aggravated assaults and robberies.

When most people think of getting information to Crime Stoppers, they think of the TIPS Hotline: 816-474-TIPS (8477). And that is an excellent way to do it. But there are many other ways to reach them and still remain anonymous. You can submit a tip electronically at www.KCcrimestoppers.com. Or you can text TIP452 and your information to CRIMES (274637).

Crime Stoppers also partnered with many Northland schools last fall in their Text-A-Tip program, in which middle and high school students can report anything from bullying to someone with a gun in the school. So far it has led to guns and narcotics being recovered and prevented suicides. Crime Stoppers is looking to expand the program into other schools around the metro area and have met with several other school districts.

In case you were unaware, Crime Stoppers is just one program under the umbrellas of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission. The Commission operates everything from a community service program for offenders sentenced to community service (which cleans up nearly 500,000 pounds of illegally dumped material in our city every year) to Second Chance, a program that helps offenders re-enter their communities after time in incarceration. You can learn more about the Crime Commission at www.kc-crime.org.

We are so fortunate to have such well-operated programs that solve and prevent crimes in Kansas City. Last year, KCPD Detective Kevin Boehm won Crime Stoppers Coordinator of the Year from the National Crime Stoppers organization. Our program is truly one of the best in the country. It gets cash to the people who give us information, it protects their anonymity, it solves crimes, and it brings justice to those who committed crimes. You can’t ask for much more. 

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TIPS Hotline reward doubles to up to $2,000

If you haven’t already heard, I’m very happy to share the news that anonymous tipsters can now be rewarded with up to $2,000 for submitting information that leads to an arrest in a felony crime.

Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers announced this change last week. Since the organization’s founding in 1982, the largest amount a tipster could receive was $1,000. (Supplemental rewards are still available. This is when a victim’s family or friends raise money for additional reward money in their loved one’s case.)

Ideally, everyone would tell police any information they have about a crime. But many people in our community don’t do that. Our department is working to build the trust to open up the lines of communication. But there are some who are genuinely scared of the repercussions they might face from their social circle if they’re seen providing information to police. That’s where the TIPS Hotline, 816-474-TIPS, is so valuable. It allows residents to submit information anonymously.

Tipsters are issued a code number when they first call in with a tip (or when they submit it by text message or online). They call back with their code number to see whether their tip has led to an arrest, and if so, they are issued the reward in cash. Then entire process is anonymous.

The reward money provides a good incentive to those who might otherwise be reluctant to call. And now there’s double the incentive. I’d like to thank the generous donors who support Crime Stoppers. They have made this $2,000 reward possible. Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers has cleared more than 24,070 felony cases in their three-plus decades, including 609 homicides. They’ve paid out more than $1.27 million in rewards. The TIPS Hotline is an invaluable resource for our detectives, and I look forward to the doubled amount of reward money bringing in even more tips.

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