"Call It Safe" Program: Supporting Safety in Champaign County Middle and High Schools Goals The goals of this program are to make the environments in our county middle and high schools even safer for our students, parents, faculty and administrators  Champaign County Crime Stoppers would like every middle and high school in Champaign County to adopt the “Call It Safe” program which would focus on educating and providing information about our organization and an avenue to anonymously report the presence of weapons, drugs, major thefts and damage of property within their communities.  One of our ultimate goals is to have our students realize the importance of being a responsible citizen in their community by giving our students the opportunity to empower themselves and stop crime from occurring by utilizing the Crime Stoppers Tip-Line 373-TIPS (373-8477). Scope: This program is available to all middle and high schools in Champaign County.

Reporting Procedure: 
All Crime Stoppers tips are handled anonymously, whether taken via phone, web, or text.  When an individual calls, a trained call taker will take the information, record it on a form and assign the caller a secret code number. This process will be explained to the caller. The information received will immediately go to local police for action. Besides the standard phone tip (373-TIPS), an individual can also send an anonymous web tip on the Champaign County Crime Stoppers website. Anonymous text tips from a cell phone can also be sent by texting CCTIP plus the tip information to 274637 (CRIMES). 

Tips That Impact Schools:
If a tip concerns a school, then the tip is immediately shared with that school.  If the school has a School Resource Officer (SRO), that officer will be notified in a timely manner and a decision on whether additional police intervention is needed will be determined at that time. The SRO will inform school administrators when a tip is received.  If a school does not have an SRO then the school administrators will be informed by police.

Tip Tracking Procedure:
All tipsters giving information to Crime Stoppers are given a secret code number.  This number is used in all subsequent contacts with Crime Stoppers.  Crime Stoppers welcomes information about an crime, potential crime, fugitive, or criminal action.  Tips leading to an arrest could result in a reward of up to $1,000.

Reward Payment Procedure:
 When a person gives a tip to Crime Stoppers, he/she will receive information and instructions on when to call back. It is very important for each caller to keep his or her secret code number.  It is the only way they will have to check back on the incident and collect a possible reward.  The Crime Stoppers Board of Directors determines the reward amount, and takes numerous items into consideration (including the helpfulness of the information and the severity of the crime). 

Publicity about the Program:
Crime Stoppers asks that the schools inform their students and parents of this program by utilizing school announcements, assemblies, individual classroom presentations, PTSA or other parent groups and the media.  The Champaign County Crime Stoppers Board of Directors will provide posters, brochures, and guest speakers for the schools explaining the “Call It Safe” program.  We encourage each school to consider having one of the student organizations that has adult supervision (example:  student council) take the leadership in the implementation of this program in their school. 

 

To learn more about the "Call It Safe" program or how your school can participate, contact Champaign County Crime Stoppers.