Nearly 4,000 tipsters statewide have called the Crime Stoppers hot line this year, a 23% increase over 2008, officials said.
The increase is due to a growing intolerance for crime in metro Detroit and a push this year by the organization to form partnerships with suburban police departments in counties such as Oakland, Wayne and Macomb, said John Broad, president of Crime Stoppers of Michigan.
"People have decided that enough is enough," Broad said.
Broad said about 35 police agencies in seven counties have signed on -- many this year -- as financial partners with Crime Stoppers, giving anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 annually. Since it began in 2002, Crime Stoppers has seen the number of tips steadily rise from 1,773 in 2006.
So far this year, 631 people have been arrested due to the anonymous tips, down from about 700 last year, Broad said. This year, the organization has doled out more than $75,000 in reward money, about the same amount as last year.
The sheriff's offices in Macomb and Oakland counties have increased efforts to use and make citizens aware of Crime Stoppers this year.
Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said his office uses Crime Stoppers' number instead of a sheriff's tip line. Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said his office has blanketed neighborhoods with door hangers bearing the Crime Stoppers tip line number after crimes such as home invasions.
Broad said many suburban departments put Crime Stoppers bumper stickers on their patrol cars or tell neighbors about the tip line after a crime has occurred, as well.
"It all goes back to our philosophy of community policing," Hackel said of his agency's partnership with Crime Stoppers. "The majority of information that comes our way comes from someone who knows something, who sees something."
Contact KORIE WILKINS: 586-826-7262 or kwilkins@freepress.com
