Crime Stoppers programs sees success in first year

Sunday, February 26, 2017
Noelle Anderson | WEAU

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU)-- It's anonymous, it's effective, and it's growing.

The Eau Claire County Crime Stoppers program has been in place for just about a year and law enforcement agencies say they're seeing nothing but success.

"We've come a long way, we've partnered with all of the agencies in Eau Claire County and there's a lot of partnership that comes with the community board members affiliated with crime stoppers, neighborhood watch programs and other types of crime preventing," says Lt. Dave Livingston with the Altoona Police Department.

The anonymous tip line has given community members across the state, a chance to tip off local law enforcement, and even allow them to make several arrests.

"As of today we have about 141Crime Stopper calls that were called in over the last year. We're very happy with those results and I think it's just going to get better," says Livingston.

Bridget Coit with the Eau Claire Police Department says the Crime Stopper program has given law enforcement a brand new platform to become even more involved with the community.

"It has helped us solve crimes in 2016 that we might not have solved otherwise. Numerous tips have come in since its inception. To have people participating in trying to better the community and reduce crime, we can't ask for more," says Coit.

Another cool feature of the program, the Crime Stopper app, where you can report your crime anonymously.

"It's an intelligence base that we wouldn't have otherwise. It's not all about the arrests, but it's the intelligence that we gather from these tips that's astronomical and we can use that for years to come," says Livingston. 

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