The idea of an anonymous tip was introduced into the mainstream media in 1975, when Detective MacAleese went to the local Albuquerque news station, hoping to get new information on a shooting that had happened two weeks earlier. Crime Stoppers was put into place after a person made it known to the detective that they were afraid to reveal any information about themselves. According to an article on The Wrongful Convictions Blog, Crime Stoppers “has been responsible for more than half a million arrests and more than $4 billion in recovered property” (Locke, 2012). It sounds good, but the existence of a reward for possibly false information can delay the progress of an investigation.
A tipline set up by the local police department in conjunction with the local news network can mean trouble for police. You have the issue of false information
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According to the textbook. “individual suspicion consists of facts that would tell both the officer on the street and a court ruling on a suppression motion whether or not there was reasonable suspicion” (Samaha, 2012, p. 100). Coupled with categorized suspicion, which is suspicion of a person or persons because they fit into a certain category such as race or being in a certain location, officers can then act on the tip and investigate it or discard it entirely. When an anonymous tip is called in, it must be pertinent to the case that is being investigated. A person cannot just give general information about a suspect or person of interest, such as race, clothing, height, weight, etc. The call has to have relevant information about the crime that is being disclosed in the call. An anonymous tip by itself cannot be establish probable cause; however if there were two tips about one case that were determined to be valid, the chances of probable cause being established is way