Houston Crime Stoppers’ audit incomplete after organization failed to provide all requested records to Harris County commissioner!

Houston, Texas (KTRK) – Since 1980, Crime Stoppers of Houston has offered its main anonymous tip line, strong victim advocacy, and community programming.

“They are the last source of support for many of these victims who have no one else to go to,” Harris County PCt. 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said at a commissioner’s court meeting in April.

But since that meeting, the nonprofit has come under scrutiny after two separate journalistic investigations New York times and partner of ABC13 Houston Chronicle He alleged that the organization lost focus and became political, blaming Democratic judges for the Indus cases.

“I think lately they’ve often gotten political in a partisan way in my estimation. Hey, it’s perfectly legitimate for people to differ and have their own preferences in terms of partisan politics, but I don’t think you should use public dollars to go and do that,” Harris Co. Pct. Commissioner 1 Rodney Ellis said.

This is where the county scrutiny comes in.

Ellis requested the audit in April to determine how much money the county has given to stop crimes since 2012, how the money has been used, and whether the organization is following regulatory requirements.

The final review, announced this week, indicates that the county has awarded about $7.2 million to Stoppers of Houston over the past decade.

But the review notes that its scope was limited while trying to determine how the money was used because crime stoppers did not provide all the required records.

“Then I was told there were some challenges in getting information for vetting from Crime Stoppers,” Ellis said.

The review states that Crime Stoppers told reviewers that some of the requested records fall outside the nonprofit’s retention window and that they are not legally required to provide some of the requested information.

The organization, which has paid more than $12 million for more than 23,000 tips since 1980, according to a Harris audit report, responded to ABC13 on Wednesday, saying, “We strongly oppose any allegations of non-compliance that we plan to address soon.”

The Harris County Auditor’s Office said Sept. 1 that Stoppers of Houston had finally agreed to provide the additional information requested, but as of Wednesday, they were still waiting.

County auditor Mike Post said he expects to have an appendix to the final report once those records are submitted.

For more information on this story, follow Shelley Childers at FacebookAnd the Twitter And the Instagram.

You can read full details from the organization, including what they said about their funding and the judges on the Crime Stoppers website.

WATCH: Recent reports highlight criticism of Houston Crime Stoppers

WATCH: Harris County Commissioner calls for crime plugs to be scrutinized after media criticism of agency

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