Five things to know about getting paid to report a crime

Crime Stoppers isn’t exactly new, but the program in Cleveland County has gotten a reboot that could get tipsters paid.

Here are five things to know about how the program now works, and how people with information can be rewarded for sharing it:

Crime Stoppers allows people to call in anonymous tips and potentially get a monetary reward upon an arrest or the conclusion of the case. The developing issue over the years? If the tip is given anonymously, how would said-tipster be rewarded?

The Shelby Police Department has run Cleveland County Crime Stoppers for years. Callers could leave tips, and investigators would take the information from there. Since 2016, the tip line has still been monitored but the process from start to finish hasn’t necessarily kept up with technology, according to Chairman of the Cleveland County Crime Stoppers Board Jeff Yates.

Thanks to a nudge from soon-to-retire Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford, the board that governs the local Crime Stoppers chapter has been revitalized, and Yates, a retired law enforcement officer of 35 year, was named the president.

Updates to the program have included an app and QR code, and the already existing phone number, to allow tipsters to offer information and be given an ID that doesn’t reveal their identity but does allow investigators to keep in touch. Photos can be shared, and rewards transferred using that connection at the conclusion of a case.

Each case is reviewed by the board, and the amount of the reward, if any, is calculated on a point system by that board. Yates said the newly vamped system is already seeing a response still in its first week.

To contact Crime Stoppers Cleveland County, call 704-481-8477 or download the app.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Five things to know about getting paid to report a crime