Crime Stoppers a resource for communities
The Crawford County Crime Stoppers has signs, social media and a tip line available for county residents to help reduce time, energy and resources spent solving crimes in the community. (Logo courtesy of the Crawford County Crime Stoppers)
By Steve Van Kooten
Around the county, you may have noticed signs urging citizens to call the Crawford County Crime Stoppers, a tip line that helps aggregate information about crimes for law enforcement. The message is clear: the sheriff’s department wants your help, the police department wants your help and your community needs your help.
If you call the Crime Stoppers phone number, it rings to a phone at the county’s dispatch office, which, according to Deputy Cody Mullikin, shields tipsters’ identities from law enforcement.
“It is anonymous,” said Mullikin. “Information for a criminal activity allows a person to provide crime-solving assistance without getting directly involved in the investigation process or being called to testify in court.”
“Everybody that calls that number is then given their own numbers, so it would be like Tipster number 100,” said Mullikin.
Crime Stoppers accepts tips about any crime within the county, whether those crimes have been reported to the police or not, and pays tipsters for their assistance.
“There’s an incentive — a monetary incentive,” Tina Sanders, the county Crime Stoppers treasurer, said. “So, if you call in a tip, you’re going to get rewarded for it.”
“Crime Stoppers pays out cash for information that leads us to solving crimes, apprehensions or arrests,” added Mullikin.
Pay out amounts are determined by a point system that considers the crime’s severity, type and value of damage done, with the cumulative score determining what financial value the tip had.
Mullikin pointed out that the pay out was worth it because it helped save time for law enforcement.
“That way, we are able to act or better reallocate our resources to things that the community [is] telling us are problems or need to be addressed,” he said. “I think the big thing county-wide is to try and partner with the community and the people that are out and about and use their eyes, use their knowledge and use what they have to offer.”
Law enforcement realizes that their communities have a wider reach than the officers could ever hope to have on their own; everything from doorbell cameras to security systems can help cut down time spent by officers doing footwork.
Mullikin said, “It might help us solve crimes fast because we’re getting in the know a lot quicker with them calling us and offering information without us having to canvas the neighborhood… they’re coming to you and cutting some of that time out of it. We only have so many deputies working at a time; we can’t cover everything 24/7 as much without the community helping us.”
According to Mullikin, Crime Stoppers tips have led to arrests, including a recent theft case. “There was a Crime Stoppers release for the theft of a snowblower. Aneighbor had video evidence of that occurring, so they shared that with us, and it helped us solve it within an hour or two instead of days.”
Camera footage from businesses and social media have also foiled thefts, including a camper stolen in the county and found in La Crosse.
“The faster the information gets out there and the more eyes that are on it and the more people that share information, it’s usually quicker that we’re going to have a positive result and solve a crime,” said Mullikin.
According to Sanders, the program’s reinvigoration over the past few years has been a long time coming. Many of Crawford communities are spread out (as much as 15 to 20 minutes from the next town of village) and local tips can make a significant difference in curtailing rural crime.
“We were pretty much inactive for several years,” she said, “and just in the past couple of years, we’ve really delved into it… we’ve worked really hard to get the rural part of the county.”
To report information about a crime, contact 608-326-8933 or 1-866-779-7297. To see information about active crimes in the area, visit the Crawford County Wisconsin Crime Stoppers Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/Crawford-County-Wisconsin-Crime-Stoppers.
