What is CrimeStoppers?
CrimeStoppers is a tip line, that gives tipsters an avenue to report criminal activity anonymously. It is a partnership between the community, the media, law enforcement agencies, and businesses working together to solve crime. Callers are encouraged, via cash rewards and a promise of anonymity, to provide information leading to the arrest of suspected criminals.
Who is Involved?
Durham CrimeStoppers is a non-profit organization made up of volunteers from the Durham community, your neighbors, who are willing to take action against crime. We want our community to be a safe one and we are willing to work to make it that way. A board of directors – members of our community who have volunteered to give their time and talents to the program – administer the program. These volunteers establish CrimeStoppers policy, raise funds, and determine the amount and method of reward payments.
How does it Work?
Information related to unsolved crimes and wanted persons is distributed to the community via various forms of media. Tipsters are encouraged to call CrimeStoppers and anonymously give any information related to the unsolved crime or fugitive. CrimeStoppers forwards the information to the investigating law enforcement agency within Durham County. If the information is used by law enforcement and leads to a felony arrest, the tipster may be eligible to receive a cash reward. Reward payments range from a minimum of $100 to a maximum of $2,000 dollars, depending on the severity of the crime.
What can be reported?
CrimeStoppers takes tips about felonies occurring in Durham County, NC. CrimeStoppers takes information about crimes that have already occurred. These tips can be related to any case from any law enforcement agency operating inside of Durham County (Durham PD, Durham SO, Duke University Police, North Carolina Central University Police, NC SBI, NC ALE, NC Highway Patrol, and any federal agency) . CrimeStoppers also takes tips regarding people with active warrants. If you have an emergency and need immediate police response you should call 911. To provide information call CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200 or click the “Submit a Tip” link above. See the below subsections for a more specific explanation of what information can be reported and how rewards are determined in each ( Rewards are always subject to our terms and conditions and an approval by the volunteer board members).
Investigative Information
Investigative information is information a tipster provides, in a case that has not had criminal charges filed in it yet. This information must be new and helpful to the investigation to be eligible for a reward. Do not worry if you don’t know if the information is new, we have law enforcement assistance in determining this, and the worst that could happen, is you are told that the information is already known. Remember, this is to help your community. Examples of this information include identifying people posted on any agencies social media, providing circumstances around a case which allow charges to be filed, or information on a party involved that allows us to link them to the crime. Ideally, provide social media pages, phone numbers, names, birthdays, places of employment, vehicles tied to the person (even if they don’t own it, but they drive it often, let us know!). This information generally, will be paid higher rewards, proportional to the severity / level of violence of the criminal offense.
Fugitive Information
Fugitives are anyone who has been charged with a crime in Durham County, and has not been served the warrant / indictment yet. If you have this type of information, please call 919-683-1200, especially after hours. This will allow a call center employee to contact Durham Emergency Communications and have an officer dispatched. These are cases where we know who’s involved and have had a judicial official sign an arrest warrant for that person, but we need to locate them. These are generally paid the second highest reward, because the highly skilled investigators have done the leg work and in some case put in hundreds of hours, but we really do want them apprehended. Fugitive Information ideally, will be provided in a real time manner, (i.e. John or Jane Doe is at 123 Main St. Durham, NC 27701 right now). An example of information that may also be helpful is a current phone number or currently active social media account, or a vehicle that the wanted subject is consistently driving. As long as this information is NEW and USEFUL, these instances will be presented for reward approval.
Narcotics Information
Narcotics are a plague and some illicit controlled substances have become so potent, they have cause national health emergencies. We at CrimeStoppers want to use our program to clear as much of this poison off the streets as we can. While these are paid similarly to Fugitive information, because it requires a lot of leg work from investigators, they are important. If you know someone selling narcotics (any substances that is listed in NC General Statute as a controlled substance), please submit a tip with that information. Investigators routinely ask follow up questions in these cases. PLEASE CHECK YOUR TIP WITHIN 3 DAYS OF SUBMISSION SO WE CAN GATHER ESSENTIAL INFORMATION. If we don’t get some of this information, it could prevent you from being paid!
If you submit information on someone selling narcotics, we would love as much detail as you can provide. Some points of detail that we would love to have are, Address of the deals (or if the subject delivers), Vehicles (with tag numbers) used to move narcotics, Type of drugs and quantity involved (this is a safety concern for everyone involved), Phone Number of the person selling, Social Media of the person selling, Are there weapons in the home, Is the subject a convicted felon, Where the drugs kept.
Don’t worry. All of this is going to be prompted in the tip.
When will I get paid?
When you submit your tip, the proper resources are notified. If your tip results in FELONY charges being filed, a FELONY arrest related to the information you provided (i.e. if you tell us someone is involved in a robbery and they are arrested for felony drug possession, this is not related to your tip and will not be paid), someone is arrested on outstanding FELONY warrants from Durham County (we do not pay for any orders for arrest such as Fail to Appear, except felony indictments), or a narcotics investigation yields a felony arrest or felony charges, the circumstances around your tip and the case will be presented to the board. The amount of the reward will be voted on. If your reward is approved, you will be notified through your tip dialog (Click Follow Up on Tip and log in with the provided Tip ID and Password). This notification will contain the amount of your reward, you must call 919-683-1200 on the indicated date and time to receive the location, date, and time of your reward pick up. This information can not be given twice and will not be given in writing for safety reasons. Once the date and time of the payment is decided, it will not be changed for any reason and the amounts are non-negotiable. If you miss the payment, you will be provided a date to call back at a later time. These are generally about a month apart, so it is important you do not miss your payment notification. If you are not interested in payment, indicate that in the original tip submission. Tip rewards are good for 6 months. After a 6 month period, the reward will expire and will not be paid (subject to specific circumstances evaluated on an individual basis by the organization).
Who Benefits?
The community! The program is a true partnership between the community, the media, and law enforcement. The community is involved and crimes are solved. Stolen property, guns, and drugs are recovered. CrimeStoppers helps to make Durham a better place to live, work, and play.
How Can You Help?
Call us at 919-683-1200 or click the “Submit a Tip” button above and provide some information, or click to make a donation . We depend on the support of individuals, professional associations, corporations, retailers, civic and social groups. CrimeStoppers’ only purpose is to make our community a better and safer place to live and we need your help to reach that goal. CrimeStoppers gives everyone the opportunity to actually do something about the problem of crime in our community. Your donations will have an actual impact in reducing crime and removing criminals from our community.
How Big are the Rewards?
Rewards range from $100 to $2,000. The amount of the reward is based on the seriousness of the crime and the amount and type of information provided by the caller.
Who Do I Call?
Call 919-683-1200 for English or Spanish 24 hours a day. You can also click the “Submit a Tip” link above. Remember tipsters always remain anonymous.
Is it Tax Deductible?
CrimeStoppers has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501c(3) organization, and therefore contributions may be tax deductible. Check with your tax preparer to determine what is deductible on your tax return.