New Crime Tip Line Offers Complete Anonymity

A non-profit organization promises anonymity and one telephone number for anyone who wants to provide a tip to law enforcement in Orange County.

Two men had tied up a 90-year-old woman at gunpoint and ransacked her home. For investigators, their best lead was the brief look the victim got of one of the men’s faces.

It was enough for a sketch of the suspect that investigators released to the public. It’s the type of effort that could help police make a fast arrest.

Minutes after the sketch was released online and on television, Aaron Berenschot’s phone started beeping with anonymous tips. Two of the tips gave Berenschot – a dispatch supervisor with the sheriff’s department – the same name. The next day, a suspect was in custody.

“You can’t receive too many tips,” said Berenschot, who is now also the coordinator for Orange County Crime Stoppers.

Law enforcement agencies are hoping for more tips like that with the launch of Orange County Crime Stoppers, a non-profit tip line that is working with all law enforcement agencies in the county get leads from the public. Many police agencies in the county already had their own telephone number for tips, but officials said by combining efforts they may be able to generate more help from the public.

The tip-line accepts text messages, phone calls and online message, and acts as a central line for those who wish to be anonymous, said Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of nonprofit line.

As the coordinating agency for the line, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department receives the original tip and distributes the information to the appropriate police department. The line can receive tips for specific crimes or general information residents want to give police department with the guarantee that their identity will not be revealed, Wenskunas said.

“Everyone wants to do the right thing, but some don’t want to make the call,” she said. “We’re in a safe community, but crime still happens here.”

This tip line protects their identity, she said, “and nobody knows who they are. They are not asked for their name, ever.”

The possibility of being identified can dissuade the public from coming forward, Wenskunas said.

System working elsewhere

Wenskunas, founder of Crime Survivors Inc., had already established relationships with several police agencies in Orange County as a crime victim’s advocate when she began to look at Crime Stoppers.

A national organization with chapters across the United States, the first Crime Stoppers was founded in 1976. On its website, Crime Stoppers USA now lists 298 chapters across the country.

“It’s a really good system that’s been working for 30 years,” Wenskunas said. “For me, it’s about keeping criminals off the street.”

Three years ago, Wenskunas began meeting with Crime Stoppers in Los Angeles and San Diego to find out how to start an Orange County line. She also met with the police chief’s association, to make sure county police departments would participate.

The response was positive, Wenskunas said, and in late 2011 the Orange County Sheriff’s Department began to distribute the new tip line number.

The sheriff’s department already had a tip line set up, but Orange County Crime Stoppers provided anonymity, Berenschot said. Now tipsters could also text and email information to a central number that could reach all police agencies in the county.

“We’re really not doing anything new, it’s just a formalized way and a 21st Century way to do it,” said Berenschot, who is now working as the Orange County Crime Stoppers Coordinator.

Tips coming in already

Police have already received dozens of tips from the public at O.C. Crime Stoppers, despite the fact that the telephone number and website have not been publicized widely.

Several of the have already led to arrests.

Anonymous tipsters can send in pictures and they can follow up on the information they provide without revealing their identities.

“You’re not going to have to worry about being victimized yourself,” Wenskunas said.

Despite the anonymity, authorities can still interact with tipsters via text message and ask follow up information, Berenschot said. The tipster decides when they want to stop interacting.

“I think, ultimately, we know there are people that just fear repercussion,” he said. “Now they have a way to do it.”

Investigators in all of Orange County’s police agencies are being informed on the new system and how it works, Berenschot said. Some police departments will likely continue distributing their own telephone number for a while, he said, but the Orange County Crime Stoppers line may be distributed alongside.

The tip line, he said, will just add another way that people can help law enforcement.

“We will do both in the beginning,” said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department. “It will be on a case-by-case basis, but our goal is to include it in all of them.”

Orange County Crime Stoppers is still looking to recruit board members and donations, as it is a non-profit organization, Wenskunas said.

To submit tips and contact Crime Stoppers, you can call 855-TIP-OCCS or 855-847-6227. You can also reach Crime Stoppers online at www.crimestoppers.org.

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