CRIME STOPPERS
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The Mt. Vernon Police Department Crime Stoppers was started in 1984. Members of the local community, in partnership with the media and law enforcement, began an effort to provide crime-solving assistance to law enforcement. Crime Stoppers is a not-for-profit, anti crime program designed to provide citizens a means to anonymously report criminal activity to the police.

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Crime Stoppers is based on the principal that "someone other than the criminal has information that can solve a crime" and was created to combat the three major problems faced by law enforcement in generating that information:

Fear of REPRISAL * An attitude of APATHY * Reluctance to get INVOLVED

Crime Stoppers resolves these problems by:

Offering ANONYMITY to people who provide information about crimes.

Paying REWARDS when the information supplied leads to arrest.

When a caller contacts Crime Stoppers with a tip, they are assigned a number as an identification.  They are never asked their names.   If an arrest is made they are given a code word in order to retrieve the award money from the United States Post Office.  This is completely anonymous.

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Three Essential Elements Make Up a Crime Stopper Program

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THE COMMUNITY
Citizens are responsible for forming a Crime Stoppers non-profit corporation, whose directors establish policy, determine amount and method of reward payments, work closely with the police and the media and generally oversee the program. The directors are also responsible for fund raising, and all volunteer service. Tax money is not sought.

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THE MEDIA
Crime Stoppers methods, objectives, successes and phone numbers are publicized on a regular basis by the media. An unsolved "Crime of the Week" is given special treatment with details published in newspapers, on radio and in certain cases a re-enactment on television.

THE POLICE
A special Crime Stoppers phone with a well publicized number is provided to the community. Callers are assigned a special code number and NEVER give their names. If, after the investigation, the information leads to an arrest, the caller is entitled to a reward.

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