The warmer weather has resulted in more arrests on tips from the Morgan Scott Cass Crime Stoppers.
Between April 1st and June 30th, tips led to 2 cases getting solved in the area and 15 arrests being made on outstanding warrants. While tips were down, rewards paid out were up by $750 and more followers hit the law enforcement group’s Facebook page.
Crime Stoppers Coordinator Loren Hamilton says he’s unsure why things were better in the second quarter of the year: “We got a little bit more activity. Cases closed might have been up, as well. Subsequently, a little bit higher amount of rewards were paid because of that. I don’t know if it is the weather warming up and tips increased, but we will take it anytime.”
Hamilton says the group is still negotiating through some malfunctions with their mobile app so tips actually could have been higher: “We are still having some issues with the app. Last I heard, we are still good on Android but we are still having some issues with the Apple store. Actually, I think tips could have been better that what they even were, but we are still having some issues that we’ve been trying to deal with Apple to get resolved.”
Hamilton says the group’s new initiative to go after drug-related, and more specifically methamphetamine-related crimes are starting to see some results. Last month, the group announced it was going to pay out more to apprehend individuals with outstanding methamphetamine and fentanyl related warrants because the group recognizes the massive public health risk the drugs have on the community. Hamilton says subsequently they are starting to see more tips related to alleged drug criminals and crimes: “We have a new target incentive, I guess you could say, on methamphetamine. We are increasing our rewards on that one particular crime. Since we finished tabulating those second quarter stats, we have seen an increase in drug tips for methamphetamine in all three counties.”
Hamilton says he’s continuing to focus on recent crimes, but if there is not a rash of new warrants and outstanding crime, he will re-focus on a past unsolved crime. He says he’s been recently successful going back over those outstanding cases.
If you have a tip on an unsolved crime in the area, you can place an anonymous call at 217-243-7300 or text a tip to the number 274637. The first word of your text tip must be “payout.” You may also submit an anonymous tip online at morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com. Click on the “Leave a Tip” button on the home page and fill out the form.