For more information on We Tip click here .
I want to thank Russ Williams, Channel 3's Local Edition, for allowing airtime on November 15th regarding WeTip Inc.
WeTip Inc. is a totally anonymous crime tip call-in non-profit organization that was founded by Bill and Miriam Brownell 35 years ago. After Bill retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, he and Miriam began WeTip in an attempt to keep drugs out of their children's schools, to make their downtown a safer place to shop, and to keep their neighborhood in Ontario, CA free from crime.
WeTip Inc. never takes any personal information - they do not even have caller-ID on their phone systems. A crime tip can never be tracked down by a criminal - whether that criminal lives in your own home, down the street, or in another city.
On a regular basis citizens call me with tips and I pass those tips to the authority that can do something about it, but I encourage people to start calling WeTip Inc., their crime tip number is 1-800-78- Crime. They take any kind of crime tips - from Section 8 violations, Welfare fraud, graffiti vandals, suspected meth-labs, to corporate ethics tips. These citizens that will never call the Lancaster or Palmdale numbers or the Sheriff's Station, due to their being petrified that a deputy might show up on their doorstep and tip off the criminals down the street, will call WeTip Inc. to remain anonymous and even be eligible for a reward.
Supervisor Mike Antonovich supports WeTip Inc. with an annual grant of $8,000.00 per year for materials made available to LA County. Local schools are members of WeTip Inc. through their insurance companies, but I'm not sure their materials are posted as they should be.
I am convinced it would be profitable for the City of Lancaster (which were once members) and the City of Palmdale to join WeTip Inc. - at the tune of $ .06 per citizen - that is a small price to pay to keep citizens safe and give them an anonymous way to report crime.
Along with Lancaster's 948-COPS and Palmdale's 94-Pride, I believe WeTip Inc. is a great tool to help citizens call in crime tips free from fear. You can check WeTip Inc. out on their website at www.wetip.com.
WeTip Inc. insures absolute anonymity - not just confidentiality!
Thanks again, Russ.
Sherry Marquez