Crimestoppers is a non-profit organization. Our primary goal is to provide citizens with a way to assist law enforcement to apprehend criminals and to make our community a safer place to live.

Crimestoppers is run by civilians, not law enforcement. When you call Crimestoppers, you never fill out a police report or testify in court. We work closely with law enforcement by passing on information callers give us through the tipline. But Crimestoppers itself does not investigate crimes and does not prosecute criminals.

We are the connection between community residents who want to fight against crime without having their identity revealed, and law enforcement, which needs community cooperation to effectively prosecute criminals and stop crime.

The process of calling Crimestoppers is simple. You call 822-1111, which puts you in contact with the Crimestoppers command center. An operator will answer the phone and take down the information you wish to provide about a crime. He or she will never ask for your name, number, address, or any other identifying information.

You can also give us a tip online, at www.crimestoppersgno.org.

Once you give us information, you will be assigned a code number, which is the only method Crimestoppers has of identifying you. You must remember this number, and provide it to a Crimestoppers operator when you call back to check on the status of the information you have given. You must call Crimestoppers. We cannot call you, because we never ask for your phone number.

In the meantime, we pass your information on to the appropriate law enforcement agency, which takes action based on your information and reports back to us on whether it led to the solving or prevention of a crime.

When you call us back and give us your code number, we check with law enforcement to see whether your information was useful. If it was, you receive a cash reward.

To receive that reward, we instruct you to come to a public place at a specified time and date, where a Crimestoppers volunteer will meet you. Rewards are paid out in cash, no matter what the amount.

The promise of anonymity for callers is Crimestoppers most powerful weapon in the fight against crime. We do not have caller ID. We do not use *67. We do not record phone calls. Not ever. Information given to Crimestoppers is protected under Louisiana's Privileged Information statue R.S. 15. 477.1.

Crimestoppers International Web site: http://wwtrw.c-s-i.org/

Greater New Orleans Crimestoppers Web site: http://www.crimestoppersgno.org