KANSAS CITY, Kan — Kansas City, Missouri, Crime Stoppers is celebrating its 40th year since its inception, but misconceptions about the program continue. The group hopes a new QR code will help them bridge the gap.
The codes were launched at the beginning of the year. Once it's scanned, it’ll divert to their website where a person can anonymously submit a tip.
“If you've been having to do anything outside home the last few years, the QR code is what everybody has and the kids that is their language, they know exactly what they're doing with the QR code,” Detective Christina Ludwig said.
For Crime Stoppers, reaching that new generation of tipsters is key with the organization, saying it’s receiving more tips from kids in school.
“They tell us anything from crimes to a person's well being or if they have a friend that isn't feeling so great,” Ludwig said.
Since they started in 1982, Crime Stoppers has helped solve 668 homicides, but the organization said tips are on the decline, just as Kansas City saw its two deadliest years for homicides with 179 in 2020 and 157 last year.
“The big biggest problem is, is getting the thrust of the people,” Mike West, assistant coordinator at Crime Stoppers, said
As a former officer, West said no tip is too small in bringing justice to families, like it did nearly 20 years ago when one tip helped crack the case of missing Ali Kemp.
“We took hundreds and hundreds of tips, but the tip that led to the arrest simply had the person's name,” West said.
