Quay County Crime Stoppers has a new tool where residents can leave tips to the organization anonymously and still receive a reward.
Law enforcement and emergency entities in the county for several years have used the Nixle phone-texting system to issue alerts.
Jamie Luaders, coordinator of the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center, said last week during a Quay County Crime Stoppers meeting it has been testing Nixle as a crime-tips system and feel confident enough to publicize it to the public.
To submit a tip to Quay County Crime Stoppers, all a user has to do is send a message stating “tip” to 888777.
The user then will receive a reply text, including options on sending the information and whether the tipster wishes to be anonymous.
Luaders said the tipster’s information then is relayed by a Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center dispatcher to a relevant police officer so it can be investigated.
The tipster also can be texted a code so he or she can receive any reward offered by Quay County Crime Stoppers for an arrest in certain cases. Reward recipients also can remain anonymous, Luaders said.
Anonymous crime tips also can be called in at (575) 461-3507.
During the meeting at the Pow Wow restaurant, members discussed the possibility of getting a dedicated phone line for Quay County Crime Stoppers. Currently, Crime Stoppers calls are forwarded to dispatchers.
Wanda Evans also was appointed as vice-chair of the organization.
Quay County Crime Stoppers recently publicized three cases where it would offer up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to arrests. Two are for the apprehension of Patrick Carabajal and Traivon Chavez, both who have active arrest warrants. The third case is information about a canopy stolen from Wailes Park in Tucumcari the weekend of Oct. 16.