Comal County Crime Stoppers

Crime Stoppers relies on cooperation between the community, the media, and local law enforcement to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals.

The Phone Call Tip

Calls are received at the local Crime Stoppers tips line phone which is monitored 24 hours a day 7 days at a week by a service along the Texas Coast. This phone is a stand alone instrument which does not provide caller ID, and conversations are not recorded. The Crime Stoppers Answering Service completes the tips information form, makes initial inquiries and then passes the information to the Coordinator who forwards to the investigating agency. Calls are accepted regarding any publicized request for information, such as "Crime of the Week" or such other crime(s) the caller has knowledge of.

By guaranteeing a caller's anonymity Crime Stoppers allows the caller to give information in a positive atmosphere without the prospect of retribution. By offering cash rewards for information leading to indictment or arrests, the program encourages otherwise reluctant callers to provide information.

There are other ways to provide a tip:

The Online Web Tip - "Submit a Web Tip"  tab to the left

The Phone Text/SMS Tip -  "Text "COMAL plus your message" to CRIMES  (274637)   

FOR SCHOOL TEXTING BE SURE TO USE YOUR SCHOOL ABBREVIATION FOLLOWING COMAL - CHS, SVHS, CLHS

The Phone App/Mobile Tip - dowload the App "TipSubmit" onto your smart phone

The Online WebTip

Tipsters now have the option of giving us tips online. The process is completely secure and anonymous and is a very effective and efficient means of safely communicating with us in today's world. Our WebTip process is powered by the world's leading online tip solution provider, Anderson Software.  

The very unique integrated Two-Way Dialog capabilities allow the tipster to come back and provide additional information to their tip at any time, but also provides a secure means for the coordinator to ask questions or provide reward information back to the tipster through the same secure and encrypted interface.

The Text Tip

Tipsters can freely communicate with our Crime Stoppers program, having an open texting dialog while remaining totally anonymous. Since the texts are processed through Anderson Software with no way to determine where the texts are coming from, there is not a way to identify the tipster keeping this process completely secure.

Structure and Funding of Crime Stoppers

Crime Stopper Programs are organized as a not for profit organization (Charity). A civilian community board of directors provides direction as to the financial and promotional activities of the program. The board of directors enhances the community involvement aspect, and its function is vital to the programs success.

The Crime Stoppers operating expenses are funded by private donations and fund raising. NO TAX DOLLARS are involved. The reward money paid out by the program is from probation fees collected by those placed on probation from the District and County Court at Law Courts.

A community board of directors, made up of persons from throughout the county, meets on a monthly basis to evaluate arrests and to decide on the size of rewards to be paid, up to $2,000. Rewards are then distributed in a private manner to the callers. Callers are eligible for rewards up to $2,000, but, despite this, many callers choose not to collect their rewards.

Does Crime Stoppers Work?

The answer is quite simply yes. Since the start of Crime Stoppers, many calls have been received resulting in thousands of arrests and recovery of substantial amounts of property. Calls have included information about murder, robbery, rape, assaults, drug and firearm offenses.

The success of a Crime Stoppers program cannot be purely judged on statistics, however, other benefits have come to notice:

• A greater awareness in the community that there is a crime problem.
• A willingness by the community to fight back against crime if it is given the opportunity and motivation.
• Improved relationships between police, media, and the community.

Crime Stoppers is definitely here to stay. It has been accepted by police as a valid and effective investigative tool and the public, through its overwhelming response, appears to have accepted it as a more palatable alternative to traditional methods of giving information.