June was a month of getting settled in to our new offices at 3100 Broadway, Suite 226, in the PennTower Building and catching our breath after the busy pace of May, with our TV show, the move and several other events that month. Still, the hotline was a busy place with 408 tips coming in during June. Forty-five arrests were made from our tips that cleared 121 cases or warrants. These numbers included the arrests of twenty wanted fugitives and the solving of a Kansas City murder case.
We are now getting down to the final weeks before our annual Crime Stoppers Bill Grigsby Golf Classic set for August 18th at Staley Farms. At this writing there were still spaces for a very few more teams left and some sponsorships still open. Anyone who has participated in this tournament will attest to how well run it is and how much fun is had by all involved. Not only that, but the proceeds go to help run one of the most effective anti-crime programs in the world. Support of the event is tax deductible to the limits prescribed by IRS regulations. Time is running out so contact Margaret Jones at mcrimestop@sbcglobal.net, or 816-436-6284 or call the Crime Commission at 816-960-6800 and ask for Amy Macey. We can also still use donations of gift certificates or other items for our raffles and silent auction. Call today to help support Crime Stoppers!
At our July board meeting, held at Independence Police Headquarters (get it? July – Independence???, oh, well…) we held a press conference to note two major events. First off, Crime Stoppers board member Art Mercer with Target helped us receive a $15,000 donation from his company to help in our crime fighting efforts. An oversized check presentation by Target associates commemorated the donation. We appreciate very much the generosity of Target and its commitment to public safety causes and we would like to thank Art Mercer in particular for his role in this important assistance to our program.
The press conference also kicked off our new text messaging tip system. Designed by Andersoft Software in Texas, the same company that created the Crime Stoppers reporting database used by most Crime Stoppers programs around the world, including ours, and the anonymous email tip system that had brought in nearly 300 tips to us, as well as designing and administering our website, the new system allows text messages to be sent to us with out revealing any information about the tipster. Each tip is generated a random password that becomes the surrogate for the tipsters’ texting location. The system allows us to ask additional questions of the tipster and relay information about rewards to them without ever knowing their identity, phone number or other identifying information. All one needs to do to send in a tip is text TIP452, then their information to CRIMES (274637). We expect to see this become as successful as our email system, though we still hope that the majority of tipsters will continue to call us at 816-474-TIPS so we can have more immediate contact and be able to ask questions at the time of the original tip. Technology, however, continues to advance and Crime Stoppers is committed to staying up with the times.
All of these advances, plus paying our rewards, payroll and all of the other bills associated with running any office takes funds, so we ask all of our supporters and hopefully new ones as well, to consider taking part in, or donating to our fundraising events. Our golf tournament was mentioned earlier. November 1st will be the date for our other major annual event, the VIP Tent Event at Arrowhead. The night is filled with good times, starting out with a Taste of Kansas City dinner with fine food from some of the city’s best restaurants, music, games, raffles and a live auction with our own Rick Easley serving as auctioneer. With the golf tournament coming up next month our attention is on that event right now, but much more about this fun night will be coming in the next issues of this newsletter. Take the opportunity to jump on early though and call us at 816-960-6800 for ticket information, sponsorship opportunities and donations for this terrific Chiefs themed party.
We want to extend a hearty thank you to North Kansas City, Gladstone, Lee’s Summit, Raytown and Sugar Creek for helping with our June calls. They did a great job, as usual. |
