In 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a 19 year-old college student was shot and killed in a robbery of the gas station where he worked.  The case went unsolved amid a public outcry to solve it.  A detective named Greg MacAlease, working with a local TV station, came up with a simple but brilliant idea.  They raised a small reward fund in the community then filmed a reenactment of the crime.  Viewers were given a phone number where they could call anonymously with information on the case and receive the reward if their information led to an arrest.

Not only did they receive a tip that solved that case, about one hundred calls came in from people who wanted to give information about other crimes but were afraid to come forward to police.  It was obvious to everyone involved that they had hit upon a crime-fighting goldmine.  A nonprofit program called Crime Stoppers was formed with a volunteer board of citizens to approve rewards and raise funds.  Soon other communities began to copy the program and before long Crime Stoppers had spread across the country.  Our local program was initiated in 1982.

Today there are Crime Stoppers hotlines in every state and in more than twenty other nations around the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Poland, South Korea, Mexico, The Netherlands, and many other countries.

Founded in 1982, our Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline marked its 25^th anniversary in 2007.  For 27 years our program has helped keep the Kansas City metro area a safer place to live, raise a family, do business and visit.  Our program is recognized year after year as one of the world’s leading Crime Stoppers programs.  We are often called upon for advice by other existing programs and to help set up new ones in other cities.  Most recently we aided the city and county of St. Louis in establishing a Crime Stoppers program there.

Day after day our hotline rings with information from concerned citizens who want to tell what they know about crimes or wanted criminals.  On average, our hotline helps solve four felony cases each and every day.

Our record of success over the years has included tips that helped solve many high-profile crimes such as the Ali Kemp murder case, the 1988 deaths of six firefighters, the arrest of serial killer Richard Grissom, the Kelsey Smith murder case and many others.

Since 2004 one of our most successful programs has been our partnership with Lamar Advertising.  Lamar continues to donate valuable billboard space on which they display photos of fugitives wanted for murder in the metro area.  Since its inception this initiative has helped put at least nine suspects in jail and has become a model for other Crime Stoppers programs in the U.S.

Our program is committed to continuing our fight to solve crime, track down dangerous fugitives, and make our community safer.  To do this, we only need the support of the citizens and the business community we serve.

It is the mission of the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline, a program of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission, to facilitate a partnership between the community, the media and law enforcement in order to help make the metropolitan area a safer place to live, work and visit.  Crime Stoppers utilizes citizen support and media assistance in aiding law enforcement agencies in solving crimes and bringing wanted criminals to justice.

Name	Position
Linda Fisher	President
Dave Lamaster	Vice President
Michael Mahoney	Vice President
Mark Dunmire	Chairman
Boyd McGathey	Secretary
James Barbee	Board Member
Bobby Bell, Jr.	Board Member
Dick Bernard	Board Member
Chuck Curtis	Board Member
Butch Day	Board Member
Georgia Erickson	Board Member
Kory Frick	Board Member
Dan Guckenheimer	Board Member
Steve Haden	Board Member
Karen Halbrook	Board Member
Todd Harrison	Board Member
Brian Henry	Board Member
Tim Heuback	Board Member
Bill Holbrook	Board Member
Brian Jackson	Board Member
Margaret Jones	Board Member
Rodney Lewallen	Board Member
Lara Moritz	Board Member
Dennis Petree	Board Member
Myron Scafe	Board Member
Edward Spalding	Board Member
Mark Thomas	Board Member
Tom Wehrle	Board Member
Crystal Whitmore	Board Member
John (Jack) Winne	Board Member
Ray Zakovich	Board Member
Doug Gamble	Honorary Board Member
Ralph Pusey	Honorary Board Member
Tom Rieger	Honorary Board Member
Jerry Sheridan	Honorary Board Member
Walter White	Honorary Board Member
Richard Cook	Ex-Officio
James Graham	Ex-Officio
Bob Jones	Ex-Officio
Fred McDaniel	Ex-Officio
Craig Sarver	Ex-Officio
Don Wilson	Ex-Officio
Kevin Boehm	Law Enforcement Member
Richard Easley	Law Enforcement Member
Carol Marinovich	Law Enforcement Member
Greg Mills	Law Enforcement Member
John Simmons	Law Enforcement Member
Bill Grigsby	Lifetime Member

Crime Stoppers Thanks All Area Departments Who Help Take Calls