Sheriff Lee Baca announced Tuesday a new partnership between the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers and Nix Check Cashing. The partnership facilitates anonymous reward payments for anonymous tips leading to an arrest.

Tipsters selected to receive rewards will be directed to one of 12 several Nix Financial branches outlets throughout Los Angeles County, where a secure system has been set up for them to receive their payout. Darryl Johnson, Chairman of the Kinecta Federal Credit Union Board of Directors and a member of the Board of Kinecta Alternative Financial Solutions, spoke in support of the new partnership.

"We are very excited to have another opportunity to partner with our communities and help fight crime in our neighborhoods by having our Nix Financial branches serve as payout centers for the Crime Stoppers program. This is yet another example of the power of partnerships and how, working together, we can make a meaningful difference in our communities," Johnson noted.

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization that partners with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department, and 38 other law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County. Crime Stoppers receives 500 to 600 anonymous tips monthly by way of text, email and phone. Through September of this year, Crime Stoppers received nearly 5,700 tips; this resulted in 258 arrests and the seizure of over $1.7 million in narcotics.

Sheriff Baca also announced a new initiative to combat counterfeiting and piracy. Counterfeiting and piracy crimes within Los Angeles County are a steadily growing problem that the Sheriff's Department's Counterfeiting and Piracy Enforcement Team has been trying to combat. Over the last year alone, they have served 41 search warrants, made 69 arrests, and seized approximately $12 million in counterfeit goods.

This new initiative involves a partnership between Crime Stoppers, several businesses and law enforcement. The initiative increases public awareness and education, and provides communities with the means to anonymously report counterfeiting and piracy.

“The Sheriff’s Department is very excited about the continued growth of Crime Stoppers as an important law enforcement resource. We deeply appreciate the partnership with Kinecta Federal Credit Union/Nix Financial

and the many companies that have stepped up to support our collective efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy crimes,” stated Sheriff Baca.

Many companies, including Altria, Monster Inc., True Religion, Abercrombie & Fitch, Tiffany, Chanel, Taylor Made, Calloway, International Anti-Counterfeit Coalition, and Recording Industry Association of America, brought display examples of counterfeit merchandise to launch a public education campaign to solicit tips regarding counterfeiting and piracy crimes within Los Angeles County. These companies and others have provided significant financial support to make this initiative possible.