Criminals travel, so does East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A fugitive can be here today and gone by tomorrow, which has The East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers trying to keep up.

“They travel. So, therefore, we need as crime stoppers to be everywhere,” ETVCS Coordinator Stacey Payne said.

Payne told WVLT News their efforts have paid off and garnered some 2,500 tips since 2021. Additionally, the non-profit is planting partnerships with nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies in just a matter of months.

Before this year, smaller agencies like the Sevierville Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office relied on social media to get the word out.

“We’ve had a lot of success there putting the information out for missing persons or people that and we’ve gotten a lot of responses and you’re very quickly with it,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey said.

Meanwhile, these agencies could not guarantee what crime stoppers could, which is anonymity and cash rewards. With the non-profit now on their side, that is a different story.

“We received our first tip approximately six weeks ago, and we’ve already seen success with the program and identified a couple of suspects that otherwise might not have ever been known to us,” said Lt. Jamie Roberts with the Sevierville Police Department. “We have received tips of cases we haven’t posted yet.”

Crime Stoppers will still turn over your tips related to outside partnering agencies. Community members can request crime stoppers in your community by reaching out to your local department.

Copyright 2022 WVLT. All rights reserved.