Metro Atlantans who want to report a crime on the "down low" now have a go-to resource.
 
Atlanta police and its Atlanta Police Foundation today announced a new Crime Stoppers program, a 24-hour anonymous hotline that rewards tipsters for information that leads to an arrest and indictment in crimes that occur in the metro area.
 
With the start of Crime Stoppers, Atlanta ended its distinction as the only major U.S. city without such a program. The announcement coincides with the celebration of International Crime Stoppers Month.
 
Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington predicts Crime Stoppers will be of great benefit to the entire metro area in encouraging residents to report on crime in their community. Unfortunately, rewards are carrots, Pennington said, that law enforcement sometimes has to dangle to get the reluctant to share what they know.
 
"Sometimes they need a little nudge," said Pennington, whose department is taking the lead in the multi-agency program by housing Crime Stoppers in its City Hall East headquarters. "The nudge is this Crime Stoppers program. It's work tremendously in other cities."
 
Crime Stoppers claims a 95 percent conviction rate, police and foundation officials say. The program got its start in Albuquerque, N.M., in 1976 and has since spread its reach internationally. Crime Stopper operators will take calls or e-mails concerning crime that happens around the metro area, then forward the information to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
 
Callers or e-mailers won't be required to give their identity and the calls will be untraceable through caller ID or the Internet. They will be assigned a special code to check the status of their tip. Authorities will notify tipsters whose information leads to an arrest or indictment on where to collect their reward, which could range from $200 to $2,000.
 
A citizen advisory council of business and community leaders will decide the amount on a caseby-case basis.An inter-agency task force of law enforcement representatives from Fulton, DeKalb, MARTA,Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and theGeorgia World Congress Center will provide day-to-day program oversight. That includes providing administrative support to help staff the phones and monitoring the program to ensure its effectiveness. The task force also will identify and alert the public to crimes of the week throughlocal media outlets.
 
The foundation, the program's sponsor, has raised $400,000 — including $300,000 earmarked for rewards — through its Campaign for a Safer City to fund the initiative for the next three years. Crime Stoppers is one of six programs the foundation has launched since its start in 2003. 

W. David Wilkinson, foundation president and CEO, said Crime Stoppers can only be as strong as the community that supports it.  "It's a program that's perfect for what the foundation does, that is bring the business and residential communities together with law enforcement in a collaborative way to prevent crime," Wilkinson added. "We all have a vested interest in making a safer city." — Crime Stoppers is available by calling 404-577-TIPS (8477) or via the Internet at www.crimestoppersatlanta.org