Though it has celebrated its 25th birthday, the Peninsula Crime Stoppers group is still trying to gain more public attention and involvement.

Peninsula Crime Stoppers, a central peninsula-based nonprofit, offers cash rewards for people who turn in tips related to crimes on the Kenai Peninsula. The board coordinates with the police departments in the cities and with the Alaska State Troopers, maintaining a phone line for tipsters and recently launched a Facebook page and a smartphone app to make it easier for people to get involved.

Police officers often rely on public tips to follow up on cases. This weekend, for instance, Kenai Police Department officers reached out through Peninsula Crime Stoppers’ Facebook page to ask for information about a crime from Nov. 5 in which a dog was killed by a shot from a high-powered pellet gun on King Salmon Drive. The post was shared more than 100 times as of Monday. Between the Facebook page and the mobile app, called P3, people can submit tips far more easily than they could via phone, said Ryan Grimm, the Kenai Police Department liaison for Crime Stoppers.

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