3005 West San Antonio St, New Braunfels, Texas 78130

Phone: 830-620-5569   Fax: 830-608-2026

New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers

Welcome to the 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. 

What is Crime Stoppers?

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. 

Crime Stoppers: The Concept.

Crime Stoppers was developed in 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Greg MacAleese, a police detective. Detective MacAleese was working on a homicide investigation and ran out of leads. However, he felt that someone in the community knew details of the murder. Detective MacAleese arranged to film a re-enactment of the crime and have it shown on the local television station. At the same time, a reward was advertised as being offered by a local civic organization. Within a week, Detective MacAleese had received a tip from an informant that led to the arrest of the individual responsible and the reward was paid.

Crime Stoppers Programs.

Crime Stoppers are currently organized in approximately 1200 communities, worldwide, with approximately 300 of those in Texas. Each Crime Stoppers Program is completely autonomous. Texas leads the way in the development and advancement for the Crime Stoppers concept. Texas has a State Crime Stopper unit that offers an 800-number for someone to call with tips on criminal activity in communities that do not have a local Crime Stoppers Program. Texas also has a five member Governor’s Crime Stopper Advisory Council that oversees the State program, sponsors quarterly educational sessions and an annual conference that individual programs can send officers and Board Members to for training. The Advisory Council has also set up a certification process, which consists of, guidelines and procedures that a Crime Stoppers Program can follow to become State Certified. This certification adds credibility to a Crime Stopper Program, as well as makes the program eligible for State Grants under Crime Stoppers Assistance Act. The ability to request that a Judge orders restitution to be paid by criminal defendants to Crime Stoppers for rewards paid to an informant who Crime Stopper tip helped solve the case. The ability to request that Judges order a one-time probation fee charged to a convicted criminal defendant placed on probation. These monies are earmarked for payment of rewards, or to receive support from the State Office and be able to participate in State sponsored Crime Stoppers training. There are currently 138 State Certified Programs in Texas. New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers became a certified program in 1990. 

New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers.

Serves the New Braunfels Police Department, Comal County Sheriff’s Department and Garden Ridge Police Department. 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 Co-Coordinator with the Comal County Sheriff’s Office.

 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 3^rd 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; 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..

Co-Coordinator, Tim Kolbe, is responsible for assisting in all function of the coordinator’s duties and coordinating all information through the Comal County Sheriff’s Department. 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 investigation 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. 

New Braunfels/Comal County Crime Stoppers.

Is a successful program. Since its inception, tips to Crime Stoppers have helped area law enforcement agencies 94 persons cleared 106 cases, and to seize over $72,000 in stolen property and illegal narcotics. For that help, Crime Stoppers has authorized approximately $10,500 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. 

Crime Stoppers in Schools

Are a top priority project of the Board of Directors. In May of 1997, New Braunfels High School implemented the first campus Crime Stoppers Program in Comal County. School programs are designed to assist administrators fight crime on their campuses and encourage responsible citizenship in the student body. 

Crime Stoppers is a Law Enforcement Organization? Actually civilian non-profit corporation. The Coordinator and Co-Coordinator are advisor to the Board and do not have voting privileges.

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