Welcome to the New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers Webpage.
It is not a law enforcement organization. It is a civilian, non-profit Corporation established within a community to set up a telephone hotline to receive anonymous tips about criminal activity. Tips received by Crime Stoppers are passed along to the law enforcement agency with the jurisdiction and responsibility for investigating the crime being reported.

New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers.
Serves the New Braunfels Police Department, Comal County Sheriff's Office, Garden Ridge Police Department, Bulverde Police Department, Department of Public Safety and all other law enforcement entities in Comal County. It was organized in 1986 after Police Chief Burney Boeck learned of the idea and worked diligently with citizens and other law enforcement agencies to implement the program. A civilian board was organized, chartered and incorporated as a non-profit organization. Currently the New Braunfels Police Department and the Comal County Sheriff's Office each have a co-coordinator assigned to the board.

The Board of Directors.
Are responsible for the fiscal matters for the organization: raising money through donations to Crime Stoppers for the day-to-day operations of the program, the review and authorization of reward payment in each case solved by a tip to Crime Stoppers, and paying the operating expenses. The Board meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the New Braunfels Police Department. The initial fundraiser for the program was a Jail-A-Thon. The Board is currently in the process of soliciting sponsors through a membership to the Crime Stoppers Program. It is the responsibility of the board to manage all fund-raising efforts for the program.

The Coordinator & Co-Coordinator.
Coordinator, Libby Rinehart, is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Crime Stoppers Program, assuring that the Hotline is answered; assigning code numbers to the callers; processing and assigning tips to law enforcement for follow-up; maintaining informant files and criminal intelligence files; compiling quarterly statistical reports; making recommendations to the Board on reward amounts; statistical reports to Texas Governor's crime Stoppers Advisory Council; preparing bulletins; organizing trips to training seminars and conferences; and publicizing and promoting the Program. Cpl Tim Kolbe of the Comal County Sheriff's Office, is responsible for assisting in all function of the coordinator's duties and coordinating all information through the Comal County Sheriff's Office. He is also responsible for publicizing the program throughout the rural areas of Comal County.

Anonymity is important.
To the Crime Stopper informant, Interestingly, approximately 40% of the callers to Crime Stoppers are not interested in receiving a reward, They call crime Stoppers so they don't have to reveal their identity. Which provides protection from retaliation to themselves and their Families by the suspect and to avoid having to appear in Court to Testify.

How does Crime Stoppers Work?
When an informant calls Crime Stoppers, they are assigned a permanent code number, Then the telephone interviewers ask questions of the informant and fill-out a questionnaire with the informant of the criminal activity that they called to report. Since Crime Stoppers does not want to know the identity of the informant, the informant is instructed that it is their responsibility to call Crime Stoppers within addition information that may come up in the case and to call Crime Stoppers back within 3 to 4 weeks to check up on their case. After the questionnaire is complete, the coordinator reviews the information and decides which law enforcement agency to send the information to for follow-up investigation the information on the handwritten tip sheet questionnaire is sent to the investigating agency along with an investigator's follow-up sheet. The investigators are asked to investigate the information and to send the investigator follow-up sheet back to Crime Stoppers within 7 to 10 days with details of their or arrests and cases cleared. When the informants call Crime Stoppers to check the status of their cases, these sheets are hopefully back in their files, so that the informant can be told what has happened in their case. If their tip resulted in arrest(s) and /or cases cleared, the informant is instructed on how they will receive their rewards.

Our Crime Stoppers Program
Is a successful program. Since its inception, tips to Crime Stoppers have helped area law enforcement agencies with 322 persons arrested, to clear 329 cases, and to seize over $108,000 in stolen property and $22,550 in seized illegal narcotics. For that help, Crime Stoppers has authorized approximately $40,625 in reward payments.

Crime Stoppers in Texas.
Has legislative protection through statutes that protect the anonymity of the informant by preventing the informant files from being introduced into court. Corporate status protects our records as well, since corporate records are not public records.