Police can only do so much when it comes to solving crimes. Another piece is citizens involvement, but there is still reluctance by many to get involved.
"We've kind of seen a little plateau."
The Crime Commission's Carol Bush wants to consider changing the 596-COPS number for Crime Stoppers. She says callers sometimes think they're calling police instead of an anonymous tip line. That can slow down cases being solved.
"So the whole anonymity thing has always been in question but it seems to have been escalated."
When compared to Crime Stoppers programs across the country, many programs use a number that includes the word Tips instead of Cops. Tulsa could follow that trend, should it change the number it's had for more than 40 years.
"I think yeah the name needs to be changed."
Angie Pitts' sister, Tina, disappeared almost 6 years ago. It's a cold case that needs new leads and new understanding of what Crime Stoppers is and is not.
"Crime Stoppers is not the police. People have that real mixed up."
Pitts says the 596-cops number could deter callers meaning cold cases like her sisters could take even longer to solve.
"Saying call cops, people's not gonna call no cops and you can understand why, there's good cops, there's bad cops, you don't know who to trust right now, but for sure you call Crime Stoppers, those are not the police. It's a big difference, educate yourself people."
No decisions have been made about a number change for Crime Stoppers. Right now, it's still just a possibility.
