Gun Violence in C-U: For Crime Stoppers, bigger bounties could mean more tips

Gun Violence in C-U: For Crime Stoppers, bigger bounties could mean more tips


A collection of guns seized or recovered by the Urbana Police Department.

The idea came to Dawn Coyne Trimble after a presentation from the host agency at September’s Crime Stoppers USA conference in Omaha, Neb.

That’s where Trimble and fellow Champaign County Crime Stoppers board members Troy Daniels and Geoff Coon first learned of the secret to Omaha’s success in helping get guns off the streets, murderers prosecuted and justice for grieving families — raising their rewards for anonymous tips that lead to homicide arrests to $25,000 a call.

“That night, I called (Champaign) Mayor (Deb) Feinen from Omaha and said, ‘We have to do this,’” Trimble said.

Well, not $25,000 a tip — “Omaha is Warren Buffet land,” Trimble said — but enough of an increase to make officials optimistic it could help curb record gun violence in Champaign-Urbana.

The city of Champaign’s $6.2 million Community Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint — expected to be approved by council members in January — includes $100,000 for Crime Stoppers’ Illegal Gun Bounty Reward Program.

An anonymous tip worth $1,000 now would jump to $2,500 for information that leads to the arrest of a person who used a gun while committing a felony or $5,000 for a homicide.

Crime Stoppers’ gun-bounty program has already made its mark, turning a $30,000 commitment from Champaign and the Community Coalition into tips that helped lead to 42 arrests and the recovery of 55 firearms since 2019.