Crime Stoppers, the tip service similar to America’s Most Wanted, is a non-profit organization incepted into DeKalb County in 1981 by local residents Warren Osenberg, Pat Brennon and others.

Crime Stoppers is run by a board of directors consisting of members of the community and local law officials and is supported solely by generous donations from the community and from civic organizations like the Roberts Foundation, which is a private family foundation, said Sheriff Roger Scott.

Additional funding comes from defendants, prosecuted through the help of Crime Stoppers, who are required to donate money as a part of their sentence, said Brian Adams, President of DeKalb County Crime Stoppers.

Crime Stoppers works as follows: An anonymous person will call with information on a crime, Crime Stoppers then will give them a code number. If their tip is used to help solve a crime and an arrest is made, the code number issued to the caller will appear in a local newspaper. When the caller sees their code number they then can contact Crime Stoppers to collect the cash reward.

The anonymity of Crime Stoppers allows people to not get involved directly.

Adams feels it also allows people concerned with incrimination, because they previously have been involved in crime, to provide police with information while avoiding the fear of arrest.

The board of directors decides the amount of money to give the caller, which is a maximum of $1,000, Detective John Siepsema said.

Crime Stoppers also has a program that highlights what they consider to be the the crime of the week. Information about the crime runs in various news media around DeKalb.

Scott says he supports the program.

“It has been very successful,” he said. “The proof is that the program started in 1981 and it is still here.”

Nationwide, the program has solved 686 cases, resulting in 721 arrests. The arrests were the result of 1,478 anonymous reports, Scott said.

The group so far has awarded $128,000 in rewards and over $1 million has been recovered in stolen property and drugs since the start of the program.