SAN FRANCISCO -- Bill Brownell spent 10 years as a deputy sheriff, but he didn't strike his biggest blow as a crime fighter until he went into the beauty supply business.
Distressed by the crime near his San Bernardino County store in the early 1970s, Brownell conceived WeTip Inc., a nonprofit organization that promised rewards for anonymous phone tips about vandalism, theft and drug dealing. The grass-roots concept touched a nerve, and WeTip developed into a national anti-crime crusade that has fielded more than 300,000 tips in nearly 30 years, including this week's tip that the remains of Chandra Levy are buried near a Virginia military base.
The FBI discounted the tip about Levy, a missing Modesto woman who has been romantically linked to Rep. Gary Condit, (D-Calif.), but the lead generated valuable attention for WeTip.
"We are like Hamburger Helper for the police," Brownell, 67, said. "One good tip from us saves a detective about 100 hours of work."
Since holding its first community meeting in 1971, Rancho Cucamonga-based WeTip has doled out rewards totaling $714,868 for more than 12,000 arrests and more than 6,200 convictions.
The reward money distributed would be even higher, but only 42 percent of the eligible informants accepted it, said Brownell's wife, Miriam, who is the company's chief operating officer.
"A lot of people just want to do the right thing," Miriam Brownell, 64, said.
With an annual budget of $1.3 million, WeTip's rewards are relatively modest, ranging up to $1,000 for help in solving murder cases. The reward money comes from donations from businesses and other sponsors.
In many crimes, other interested parties supplement WeTip's standard rewards. Washington Mutual Bank, for instance, is offering a $10,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of a suspect in 10 Southern California bank robberies. Since the industry began using WeTip's service in 1990, most bankers have been happy with the results, according to the California Bankers Association.
"It's been very valuable," said Annissa Yates, a vice president for the industry trade group. "One of the things that our members seem to like the best about WeTip is the way that it gets the whole community involved in helping to solve a (criminal) case."
Most of WeTip's information is supplied through its telephone hot lines, which are staffed by 14 operators at peak periods. On a typical day, about 50 to 100 calls come in about various cases, Miriam said. The company's 5-year-old Web site also generates tips.
Every caller on the hot line receives an identifying number and the tipsters that want reward money also are assigned a fictional name consisting of three words. The caller about Levy's burial site wanted a reward, Miriam said.
Running WeTip hasn't been a boon for the Brownells, who eventually gave up their beauty supplies store to focus exclusively on their crime-fighting crusade. Although the operation has grown substantially from its initial annual budget of $14,200, most of WeTip's money goes toward covering its rewards and other expenses, including the paychecks of 43 employees. Bill and Miriam Brownell each collect an annual salary of $50,000 from WeTip.
Bill Brownell plans to retire from WeTip in January and turn the reins over to his wife. Susan Aguilar, WeTip's national director, will take over as chief executive officer after Miriam retires.
"We are trying to level the playing field against all the criminals out there, so hopefully this will live on after we're gone," Bill Brownell said.
