CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The 2023 Greater Hampton Roads Regional Crime Line numbers are in and with close to 4,500 tips given by the community, it helped solve more than 300 cases last year.
When compared to 2022, the number of tips to the Crime Line decreased slightly in Hampton Roads from 4,659 to 4,487.
Arrests with the help of those tips also dropped down from 230 to 154.
News
Hampton Roads 2024 Homicide Tracker
In 2023 tips to the Crime Line helped recover more than $34,000 worth of stolen property in our area, get 58 guns off the streets and helped recover more than $5 million worth of illegal drugs.
"We don't police the citizens, we police with the citizens," Leo Kosinski, the Chesapeake Crime Line Coordinator, said. "Without the cooperation of the public you can't have a successful police department without the cooperations of the citizens that it serves. That just shows the people out there in the neighborhoods, they know what's going on."
Everyone has their own reasons for submitting tips.
In 2023, the Crime Line boards did approve more than $57,000 worth of rewards with close to $29,000 not getting claimed.
"Certainly there are some individuals that they know about certain crimes and they're looking for that monetary reward which is fine, but I think in a lot of these cases there's just people who feel it's the right thing to do," Kosinski said.
Last year more than half of the tips were submitted using the P3Tips App.
When it comes to the Crime Line you can always remain anonymous no matter how you submit a tip.
Community activists say this program is not about snitching but holding those who commit a crime responsible.
"That word snitch can go away, but we as people, as human beings, must take a stand and say accountability has to be first," Bilal Muhammad, with Stop the Violence, said.
You can submit a tip by calling the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or by downloading the P3Tips app.
