Crime tip line changes name

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003 | 8:40 a.m.

Secret Witness is out. Crime Stoppers is in.

That's the message John Grady, chairman of Crime Stoppers, wants to send to the public.

"We're changing our name to Crime Stoppers because it sends a clearer message," he said. "It stops crime."

Crime Stoppers is an independent, nonprofit organization that runs a 24-hour tip line where members of the public can give information anonymously about felony crimes. The tips are passed on to local police and, if the tip leads to an arrest and indictment, the tipster can collect a cash reward of $250 to $1,000. The tip line, 385-5555, will remain the same.

"It's a simple concept that's proven to work," Grady said. "We want to update the name and let everyone know what we do."

The program had been known as Secret Witness since its inception and, despite the name change, will continue to function in the same way.

Since the program was established in Southern Nevada in 1979, the population has grown with people coming from other areas that might have had a Crime Stoppers program, Grady said. This name change aims to eliminate confusion.

Crime Stoppers is a national organization that began in 1976 in Albuquerque to combat a high crime rate. The first phone call to Crime Stoppers provided information that helped solve a gang rape case that had been dormant for 18 months.

A group of concerned citizens brought the program to Southern Nevada three years later, choosing to name it Secret Witness.

Since the program began in Southern Nevada, the tip line has received more than 96,000 phone calls, helped to apprehend more than 10,000 suspects, has paid more than $1.3 million in reward money and has recovered more than $59 million in stolen property.

"If we can take a criminal off the street, we feel we've done something tremendous," Grady said.