Mission Statement

The Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) branch of the Rutherford County Crime Stoppers Program, Inc. was formed in the fall of 1995 to function as a supplement of other services utilized by MTSU to make the campus safer not in response to any one event or criminal incident. The mission of the MTSU Crime Stoppers Program is to function as a deterrent to campus crime by increasing the probability that criminals will be arrested and convicted through the use of anonymous tips. Thanks to the co-operative agreement between the MTSU Crime Stoppers Program and the Rutherford County Crime Stoppers Program, the Rutherford County Crime Stoppers Program will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who has committed a felony on any property owned and operated by Middle Tennessee State University within Rutherford County. The MTSU Crime Stoppers Program will pay up to $300 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who has committed a misdemeanor on any property owned and operated by Middle Tennessee State University within Rutherford County.

Crime Stoppers is a worldwide program, operating within local communities, designed to allow citizens an easy opportunity to provide the police with information about criminal activity. The goal of Crime Stoppers is to bring the perpetrator of a crime into the Criminal Justice System by using the combined resources of citizens, media, and law enforcement. MTSU’s Program, in conjunction with Rutherford County’s Program, offers a dedicated, unrecorded telephone line whereby the anonymity of the caller is preserved. The identification of a caller is known only by a number. This system, coupled with the possibility of receiving an award for the information given, has been highly successful for other programs – a success the MTSU branch hopes to share in.

MTSU’s Crime Stoppers Program officially started on November 11, 1995 with the assistance of the Rutherford County Program, and functions as a branch of the Rutherford County Crime Stoppers Program. MTSU’s Program follows the guidelines of the national organization with some modifications in order for the program to better serve the special and unique needs of the university community. There are two primary differences in MTSU’s Program: the source of reward monies and the handling of misdemeanors. Currently monies are available through university sources, the Rutherford County Crime Stoppers Program for felonies, and donations from private individuals. Misdemeanors are handled by the MTSU Program specifically because they are more prevalent on campus than felonies, they are much more difficult to solve, and, within Rutherford County, there are no other reward systems that pay for information concerning misdemeanors.

The responsibility of the citizens, media, and police are as follows:

Citizens – Encouraged to contact the Crime Stoppers Program and share all of the information they have available concerning a criminal act or acts.

Media – To promote the Crime Stoppers Program and assist police in getting information about unsolved crimes to the university community.

Police – To conduct a normal investigation on all information given to them by the citizens who utilize Crime Stoppers’ 24 hour unrecorded telephone line for callers.