LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's crime tip line is a number shared often, 574-LMPD. Calls to that number can provide the information police said is needed to help solve crimes and make arrests. 

WDRB News got an inside look at the LMPD Service Center where those calls are taken.

Robin Oates, the director of records management, said there are thousands of calls that come through the tip line each year. 

"Last year, we received over 105,000 calls to 574-LMPD in one year," said Oates. "So it's huge. And that's not only crime tips, that's all other calls and so it is a very well known number."

Aside from crime tips, Oates said the line is also used for calls about things such as tows and repossessions, reporting crimes and more.

"The people there, I always tell them, 'Nobody's ever calling you because something good happened to them today,'" she said. 

Oates said fully staffed, the LMPD Service Center has 22 full time employees and two part time employees. Currently, she said the center is down 10 people and there are efforts to hire more. For information on how to apply, click here.

"People are very busy and they're going from call to call to call," said Oates.

The tip line is available 24/7, answered by civilian employees. Oates said calls are truly anonymous and do not have a caller ID. She said about half of the time, people want to give their name, asking for a detective to call them back. 

The Service Center also checks tips that come from the online crime tip portal and receives calls from the narcotics-specific tip line, 574-2580. 

Oates said for the thousands of calls that came in during 2023, 8,500 of those were crime tips.

"So, that's a lot. That's between calls we received and ones we received online also," she said. 

Oates said pieces of information, no matter how small, can be the part of the puzzle detectives need to help solve a case. She said tips are secured and shared only with police on a specific case or unit. 

"So, when the detective goes in and looks at that case, they can also see those tips that we've received and see if there's any commonality in them and be able to use that for their investigation," she explained. 

In early January, LMPD held a news conference with the family of Amanda Miller. The 37-year-old Louisville mother was shot and killed in May 2023. The focus of the news conference was on locating the suspect in her homicide, Maurice Byars. 

"You can't put it into words the pain that we feel every day," said Miller's mother, Valerie Garrett on Jan. 10. "It doesn't get easier. It gets harder every day your feet hit the floor and you know she's not there. She's not going to be there."

Less than two weeks later, police found and arrested Byars. In a Jan. 19 news  release, LMPD said "Mr. Byars was arrested without incident this afternoon after information was received by LMPD from an anonymous tipster via 574-LMPD (after viewing the Jan. 10 news conference) regarding Mr. Byars whereabouts." 

Oates said for anyone calling in to give a tip, it's helpful to include as much information as possible. She said people can leave their name and a number for a detective to call back, but stressed that the line is anonymous and people do not have to share their identity. 

"Once we pass it on to the detectives, they know that it came through a crime tip, and they want to protect that person's identity. So they will ask their questions, they will do their investigation, in a way not to alert the person that a specific person was the tipster to give that away," she said. 

Oates said she believes the tip line makes neighborhoods safer. 

"... and I think it could do even more if more people would call," she said. 

Anyone with information about any crime in Louisville can leave an anonymous tip by calling 502- 574-LMPD (5673).

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