KANSAS CITY, Mo. — I met a woman this year who changed the way I speak on television.
KSHB 41 viewers hear the call for viewers to contact local police departments or Greater Kansas City Crimestoppers if they know something about a crime that took place.
After meeting Kristi, I've changed the way I say that.
More than a year ago, Kristi lost a friend in a shooting.
Scared and upset, she chose to help, and hoped that it would, literally, pay off.
"That was my best friend in the whole entire world, and if I could help in any way I can, I was going to," Kristi said.
"When I saw that I could get reward money, my whole thought was that I could just get out of this state, and move on, and I'll be fine."
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Kristi contacted the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
She did not know that there was a difference between local police and Crimestoppers.
"Had I known there was a difference, I certainly would not have gone the route that I did," Kristi said.
Kristi told me that at the police department, she identified one of the people involved in her friend's death in a line-up.
That person was eventually federally indicted on gun charges. Kristi believes without her, that wouldn't have happened.
She told me that she asked the detective about the reward money, and was told to contact Crimestoppers. She was hoping for enough money to relocate, away from where people might know she gave police information.
"(Crimestoppers) said that since I was no longer anonymous, that I could not be eligible to receive the money," Kristi said.
I asked her how that felt.
"I helped solve a crime, so why because I put my neck out there even more and gave my name, am I not eligible for money," she asked.
Kristi's case, unfortunately is not uncommon. I know that now. I didn't when I took her story to Crimestoppers administrator, Det. Christina Ludwig.
Simply put, Crimestoppers has a problem no 40-year-old program wants.
"When I took this position two years ago, I thought this is a fine-oiled machine, it's running, everything's great," Ludwig told me. "And then I came across that in the community, we're not trusted. The police are not trusted."
Ludwig is a detective with KCPD, but she told me that should not and does not blur the lines between police and Crimestoppers. She says her knowledge as a detective helps her determine which tips are viable, and can help in an investigation.
The entire intention of Crimestoppers, and the reason it's different than the police department, is keeping witnesses anonymous.
When a tipster calls the TIPS line (816-474-8477), they are assigned an ID number, and that's how they're known moving forward. Those tips are basically scrubbed clean by detective Ludwig and her team, erasing any information that might identify the tipster.
"Nothing can reveal who you are, where you are, what race you are," Ludwig said. "If (a picture) has your hand in it, we cannot use it. Some of these tips that are submitted are like two pages long, and I go through it three to four times, and make sure I got everything before I can send it off."
That tip is forwarded to the corresponding law enforcement agency for a detective to follow up on, but it doesn't go in the investigative file.
On the other hand, if at any point you speak directly to an investigator, your name goes into the record of the case. Meaning you could be called into court as a witness if and when the case goes to trial.
"Their information gets taken down, for part of the report, and then they're not anonymous anymore, and we can't pay them anymore," Ludwig said. "That's 100 percent of the equation. It would look like we're paying people off."
Crimestoppers serves nine counties across the Kansas City area. Ludwig told me that they receive 300-375 tips a month.
Homicides get the most attention, and for good reason, as there have been more than 140 this year in Kansas City, Missouri.
The TIPS line has gotten thousands of tips in those cases, but the hotline is not exclusively for information on murders in the city.
Tipsters call in everything from drugs and assault to fraud and prostitution.
"You have to ask yourself if you're out there, 'What if it were me? What if it were my mother, my brother, my sister, my cousin?' Wouldn't you want justice?"
That's what Damon Daniel told me when I sat down to talk with him about people calling, or not calling, with information on crimes.
Daniel is the president of Ad Hoc Group Against Crime in Kansas City. He works with victims of violence every day, and knows just how many of them are waiting for some information to break.
I asked him how hard it is when a family loses a loved one, and knows that someone out there knows something.
"It's crushing," Daniel said. "It's crushing."
Daniel also had specific thoughts on the so-called "snitch culture" after a crime has been committed
"A snitch is somebody who's already in custody, and for lesser time in jail or prison, they share what they know," Daniel said. "A witness is somebody who cares about their community, knows right from wrong, and someone who speaks up."
As I worked to learn more about how Crimestopers works, I also visited their board meeting in September.
That's where Ludwig presents success stories--tips that have led to arrests, and earned a reward.
She suggests the amount a tipster should receive, based on the information and the severity of the crime.
Then the board can vote to approve, or suggest a different amount. Those board members wholeheartedly believe in the program, but they know they're struggling with people understanding how it works, and believing its flawless record of keeping tipsters anonymous.
"If crime is increasing, our tips, our rewards, should be increasing," board member James Eddy told me. "We have to be a vital part of the process."
"I've seen the results of what it does, how it does help," board member and founder Margaret Jones told me. "It works. It, totally, totally works."
But the stats on rewards for tipsters shocked me.
When a reward is approved, the money is sent to a bank or financial institution, and the tipster is able to get it using only their ID number.
But only 40 percent of those approved rewards are ever picked up. After a year, the money goes back into Crimestoppers' award fund.
Kristi didn't even get that far. Now, more than a year later, she understands why it happened, but wishes the wrong phone call didn't end up being such an expensive decision.
"Kansas City has the most murders that they've ever had this year, so you would think they'd be a little more understanding and respectful to the people who do help solve those crimes, because so many of them go unsolved," she told me.
In the last 40 plus years, police in the KC-area have made more than 11,000 arrests using Crimestoppers tips, 30 of those just this year.
More than $1.6 million in rewards have been paid, including close to $25,000 this year.
You've also likely heard about the $25,000 reward for tips that lead to arrests. That's only for homicides in Kansas City, Missouri. It's been awarded before, but not once in the two years Ludwig has run the program.
I should mention as well that last year, before the person in her friend's case was indicted, Kristi was living in fear because of what might happen to her after she spoke to police.
Her son moved out, and her car was badly damaged when she says someone shot at it while she was driving in Kansas City.
She badly wants people to know the difference between police and Crimestoppers when they want to share a tip.
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