Program Increases Reward To Help Combat Crime In Greensboro/Guilford County

A program that helps solve crimes in Guilford County is marking 40 years in the community.

Greensboro/Guilford County Crime Stoppers gathers anonymous tips and offers cash rewards. And now, city leaders recently approved funds to provide more incentives.

It's a partnership between community volunteers and local law enforcement.

The program rewards anonymous tips that lead to an arrest, the seizure of stolen property or illegal narcotics, or the solution to unsolved crimes. 

The grant will be used to increase the maximum payout from up to $2,000 to up to $5,000.

“No tip is too small and just for the families out here that don't have any closure, we hope that people will be more inclined to call us now and give us the tips, so we can give to detectives and hopefully solve some of these cases, especially the homicides,” says Stacey Finch, a Crime Stoppers coordinator with the Greensboro Police Department.

Since its inception, around 40,000 tips have been submitted and 9,000 cases have been solved. 

Last year, Greensboro had a record number of 61 homicides. So far this year, it's a little over half that.

Finch says that includes two recent shooting incidents that claimed the lives of two teenagers who both were students at Dudley High School.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news