Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers no longer taking tips after more than 30 years

With the force behind it gone, the 30-year Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers program is coming to an end.

The nonprofit stopped taking tips last week with a note on its Facebook page directing people to contact their local police departments if they have information about a suspect or a crime.

“Crime Stoppers has been instrumental in helping to solve crime in the Tri-Cities area for more than 30 years,” the Facebook post said. “Thank you to everyone who has helped support the program over the years.”

The announcement came soon after the death of Kennewick’s Crime Prevention Specialist Mike Blatman. He died Jan. 28 from a long-term illness just weeks before his retirement.

Blatman helped bring the program to the Tri-Cities. It paid tipsters up to $1,000 rewards for information leading to an arrest in a felony crime. Callers could remain anonymous.

Locally, tips to the Crime Stoppers tip line resulted in almost 4,400 arrests and 7,600 cases cleared.

And about $86,000 in rewards were paid out over the years, according to its website.

The program led to the discovery of $1.7 million worth of illegal drugs and the recovery of $786,000 in stolen property.

Nationally, the program started in 1976 after an Albuquerque detective became concerned about the large number of unsolved cases in general and, in particular, the death of a local college student.

His belief that the information to solve these crimes was out there helped motivate the local community, media and law enforcement to form the first Crime Stoppers organization.

Expand beyond Kennewick

Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers started in 1985 when a state grant allowed the program to expand beyond the Kennewick Police Department.

While Blatman worked for Kennewick police, Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers was an independent nonprofit, said police Lt. Aaron Clem. The organization raised donations to pay the rewards.

With police agencies able to reach out directly to their communities through social media, the need for Crime Stoppers has dropped off. And there were already plans to end the program when Blatman retired.

“The police chiefs and sheriffs felt like that was a good time to stop using Crime Stoppers,” he said.

Sending in tips

Blatman, who was the law enforcement liaison with the program, had been suffering from a long-term illness that forced him to step back from his duties at the police department.

One of the appeals of Crime Stoppers was the ability to submit tips anonymously.

Richland, which left the Crime Stoppers program several years ago, started their own anonymous tip reporting system as part of a series of community involvement tools.

People can go online at www.ci.richland.wa.us/ATR to submit the tip. It’s not intended to replace a 911 call in the case of an emergency, but it does allow people to provide the information needed to solve a crime.

While the announcement came at the same time as the end of Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers, the two are not connected, Richland police said.

Clem and Pasco’s Sgt. Rigo Pruneda said people can reach an officer through dispatchers by calling the non-emergency number 509-628-0333.

People can stay anonymous while submitting a tip, they said.

People can also come directly into Pasco’s police station or go through the website, Pruneda added.

“If people want to remain anonymous or do not want to be listed in a report, they tell us up front and we respect that,” he said.