Of the roughly 1,200 tips submitted to Big Bend Crime Solvers last year, 26 led to an arrest — or only 2%.
While the organization is consistently seeing a sizeable amount of tips, there still is a “fear of snitching” the organization is working to overcome, said Sharon Ofuani, its director.
“I think people are more ready, perhaps than ever before, to try something to help themselves because everybody wants something to be done,” she told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Last December, the organization made the decision to change its name from Big Bend Crime Stoppers to encourage more tips. Since then, Ofuani said they’re exploring multiple avenues to reach the public, especially younger folks.
More and more crimes are involving younger people, and it’s imperative they get more tips from that age cohort, she said.
Ofuani said the organization has 14 random volunteers driving cars with advertisements for Big Bend Crime Solvers, it has run TV commercials and now is looking at launching a TikTok and forming partnerships with local schools and businesses.