Cary Crime Stoppers

Cary CrimeStoppers has been working toward a safer Cary since 1992. It gives residents a way to pass along what they know about a crime without giving up their name, and it pays cash rewards when a tip leads to an arrest in town.

The idea goes back to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1976, after a University of New Mexico student named Michael Carmen was killed during an armed robbery at the gas station where he worked. Police took a reenactment of the crime to the local news, and the model spread from there.

What to know

• Tips are submitted anonymously through a dedicated tip line.
• Campus CrimeStoppers now runs in hundreds of local schools serving K-12 students.
• Donations are accepted to support the program.
• The group sums up its work as unmasking crime and preserving anonymity.