ATLANTA — For the last 15 years, Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta has been solving crimes and putting criminals behind bars.

Atlanta Assistant Police Chief Carven Tyus said that over those 15 years, they have made over 1,900 arrests and given out more than $1.6 million in donated reward money.

He says that’s a win-win for police departments and the community, but wants more departments to get involved.

APD Sgt. Carlos Maldonado says several cases may still not be solved without the tips from Crime Stoppers.

He says he was investigating who shot two people near a nightclub in January 2022, but a tip he got after putting out surveillance video with Crime Stoppers is what cracked the case.

“Without the tip and leading me on the path that I used to identify the suspect, I would not have been able to solve this crime,” he explained.

Because he knows the power of Crime Stoppers, Sgt. Maldonado shared the story of that investigation with officers and deputies from other metro Atlanta departments who gathered inside APD headquarters.

“As you know, criminals don’t know borders or boundaries, so we just thought it was important that we get metro Atlanta in on this,” Tyus said. “Ultimately, it’s going to take every community within this metro area to help combat the crime we’re seeing.”

Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta Director Sgt. Travis Williams says all tips that come in are kept anonymous. The tipsters won’t have to testify in court or identify themselves.

“We want everything to be discrete. We want to let the community know that we’re here for them, and that’s the most important thing,” he said.