What a year it was!

From Silent Observer

2020 certainly was a challenging year as life changed for us in a blink of an eye. Some of us became ill, some lost loved ones, businesses were shuttered until it was deemed safe enough for reopening. Schools went virtual which has fostered isolation, and crime increased. We all are aware of the challenges, but we hope you saw some of the blessings that came out of this too. More time with family; a reassessment as to what is really important; new creative ways to spend your time; reinvention of our businesses to stay relevant and successful; and the list goes on and on. 
What we will address though is the increase in crime in 2020, which gave us great pause and concern. The number of tips Silent Observer received regarding shootings, homicides, armed robbery, and drug dealing increased and although our resources were stretched at times, we worked diligently in giving community members the opportunity to report information about crime safely and anonymously.  

Silent Observer received 2,400 tips in 2020, which is an all-time high. Some of our crime-solving tips led to:

Four people responsible for beating up and assaulting multiple victims while two of the four carried an assault rifle and a handgun. They were charged with Armed Robbery and Assault.

A suspect wanted for the murder of Ernest Griffin.  A tip led to this dangerous felon’s location. 

A 13-year old was sexually assaulted and impregnated by someone she knew but this young girl was afraid to tell anyone. This criminal act may have not come to light had a tipster not decided to speak up on her behalf, which alerted authorities as to who was responsible and also got this young girl the help she needed.

Mark Toliver was murdered in May of 2016 and Silent Observer received a tip shortly after naming the person involved. It took a few years for police to develop the case, but the suspect was arrested and charged last spring, thanks to an anonymous tipster. 

Dangerous people with felony warrants including shootings, parole absconders and drug dealers selling heroin, meth, and cocaine.

Nine weapons were removed from our streets thanks to Silent Observer tipsters.

Silent Observer received a record number of tips that led to the identities of 12 individuals who vandalized our beautiful downtown area, doing $2.1 million dollars in damage.     

In 2020, Silent Observer addressed the violence by:

Increasing rewards regarding violence, gun crimes, and burglaries of car dealerships, gun stores and cell phone stores.  

You Know Who Killed Me Billboard Campaign – We ask anyone with any knowledge of unsolved homicides to share their information with Silent Observer to bring the killers to justice.  A $3,000 reward is offered.

Offering rewards for information leading to those who vandalized our beautiful downtown doing $2.1 million dollars in damage.  We received a record number of tips which led police to arrest many of the people involved.

Silent Observer uses state of the art tip taking technology where users can contact us via phone, web, and mobile app.  Someone is always on-hand to deliver the crime-solving information to police, 24/7.  

Silent Observer Promises Anonymity

With crimes occurring in our city so fast and furious, our citizens need a safe place to share their important crime-solving information without fear of retaliation from criminals. The Code of Silence is a strong force, and you all know, the only beneficiaries of the code of silence are the ones who make life difficult for us.  Silent Observer is there for the community; not only does tip information help police remove criminals from our streets, but victims of crime also get answers and see justice being served. That’s why a functional and efficient Silent Observer Program is more important than ever. Silent Observer is a non-profit organization that guarantees those who provide tips to us will remain anonymous. We don’t have caller ID and we do not track IP addresses. And if a tip leads to an arrest, the tipster is eligible for a reward.  

State law protects Silent Observer tips from discovery and FOIA so you can be assured, that those who use our many anonymous tip lines will never, ever be identified. See the graphic that explains how a tip is handled from start to finish.