But that total grew quickly after contributions from the feds, corporate donors and anonymous individuals. But you might not know that these rewards — while publicized when crimes happen, and which are designed to incentivize calls to police investigators — have less to do with the Philadelphia Police Department than it seems.

Santo Montecalvo, vice president of the commission, said the group usually pulls together funds for heinous crimes, but will never turn down a person wanting to post a reward for information leading to an arrest in any crime.

And he said more than half of the time a reward is posted, it works. The majority of the revenue used to make those payments, according to the filings, comes from fundraising and government grants.

Other times, funds come in from federal agencies, the Fraternal Order of Police or individuals. Usually, rewards are for information that leads to arrest and conviction. After the person gives the crime commission pertinent information that is forwarded to police, the crime commission provides the tipster with a code number.

But the burden of following along with case rests with the tipster. The person who provided information must follow along to see if the suspect is later convicted, then call back the commission and provide the code number to retrieve their reward, according to Montecalvo.

Crime Stoppers Tips | Rewards | Frequently Asked Questions | Texas Crime Stoppers

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