About half the tipsters to Hattiesburg Metro Crime Stoppers don’t even want the reward, Executive Director Diane James says.
“Then you have people who all they want is the money. We like that kind, too, because if you wire that person up he’s going to snitch on everybody on the street,” she said. “Another thing is scorned women are great tipsters. They’re going to have all the information.”
James shared about the program, which includes Marion County, on June 25 to the Columbia Rotary Club. Crime Stoppers provides cash payments in exchange for anonymous tips that lead to arrests.
It’s an area where Mississippi is a national leader, and other states are now trying to copy it, according to James. She said the Legislature had the vision to fund the program in the early 1990s through a $2 fee on misdemeanors.
“That way criminals pay for it,” James said.
The former TV reporter and field rep for former U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows took tips over the phone herself from 2002 to 2018, but she said it’s a rough world where the criminal element is involved. That led the board of directors of her organization to opt to use a call center now.
They’ve solved everything from bank robberies and arsons to routine drug cases, James said. Many of the tips are from senior citizens who are plagued by drug dealers, she said. Relatives will get out of jail, move into an elderly relative’s house and set up drug activity, she said.
“They’ve called Crime Stoppers because they were simply terrified,” James said. “Of course, they don’t want their name on it.”
Crime Stoppers calls the local police and helps evict the criminals from the homes, which James said is one of the best feelings from her job.
Tipsters must get an ID number from Crime Stoppers to get paid a reward. James said they pay out the money within 48 hours of an arrest and are very careful about keeping the anonymity. She said they can give up to $2,000 without the person having to report the money as income to the IRS, which means there is no paper trail.
The average payout is $250, which would be for things liking turning in someone with warrants.
Tips can be submitted to (601) 582-STOP (7867) or P3tips.com/364. Counties covered are Marion, Forrest, Lamar, Jeff Davis and Lawrence.
