New Crime Stoppers van for NYPD features screen for public to view suspects, crime scenes, with goal of solving more crimes

The NYPD unveiled a new Crime Stoppers van Thursday, complete with a giant LED screen, in the hopes of generating more clues and tips from the public to help solve serious violent crimes soon after they occur.

The $288,000 vehicle, funded by the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation and private donations, is the latest development in the 40-year-old Crime Stoppers program which, officials said, to date, has paid out over $3 million in reward money to tipsters who have helped solve more than 5,600 violent crimes, including 1,600 murders and attempted murders.

While the Crime Stoppers program has used other vans in the past to generate leads, the latest vehicle has an approximately six-foot by eight-foot LED screen on its side panel which allows crime scene photos, videos and images of possible suspects to be displayed to the public.

“The technology has improved, the pictures we get, the video we are able to get, it is like having a minicomputer, built in inside,” Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a news conference about the new van outside police headquarters. “We will be able to show our pictures in real time.”

“Every day the Crime Stoppers van is out. So, an incident happens last night, we are out there today asking for the public’s help, On cases that have gone stale, we go out yearly on the anniversary or whenever we get knew information,” Essig said.

The Crime Stoppers hotline in NYPD headquarters is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by a staff of 17 detectives. So far this year, 331 tips have come in while last year 1,155 calls came in with information, according to Essig. All calls are processed and while some do not contain new information, others have proved useful, according to police.

One of the most notable cold cases solved through Crime Stoppers was that of “Baby Hope,” a four-year-old girl found dead in a cooler along the West Side Highway in 1991, recalled Essig. Police said a solitary telephone call from a woman in 2013 to the Crime Stoppers hotline led to crucial information that identified the victim as Angelica Castillo and ultimately led to the arrest of her cousin for the homicide. The 57 year-old suspect died awaiting trial.

A more recent success for Crime Stoppers came in April 2022 when a suspect shot up a Brooklyn subway train during rush hour. The hotline was deluged by calls that helped cops nab the suspect, later identified as Frank James. In January, James, 63, plead guilty to federal charges stemming from the shootings in which 10 people were wounded.

The NYPD's Crime Stoppers can be reached at 800-577-TIPS. Callers are kept confidential and rewards of up to $3,500 will be given for leads leading to the arrest and indictment of suspects.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.