Oakland Crime Stoppers cash troubles harming unsolved cases, victim's wife fears

Katie Miller hoped the reward money being offered by the Oakland Police Department would help catch her husband’s killer.

Then, she saw NBC Bay Area’s recent investigation revealing the department was advertising reward money it couldn’t actually pay, having lost access to Oakland Crime Stoppers funds more than two years ago. In one case, the department stiffed a tipster on a promised reward of up to $10,000 after he came forward with information that led to the arrest in a separate high-profile murder case last year. 

“Maybe people would be willing to come forward if they knew there was a financial incentive,” said Katie Miller, whose husband, Will Schwerma, was shot and killed two months ago inside a parked car in West Oakland. 

“Then I heard this terrible news that it’s actually a sham and there really isn’t any [Oakland] Crime Stoppers and they don’t have any money to give out. It was like the rug was taken out from underneath me because now I have nothing, no bargaining chips.”

Since NBC Bay Area’s first story aired last month, the Oakland Police Department said they have no updates to share on the troubled Oakland Crime Stoppers program, and the tipster profiled in the story said he’s still waiting for answers from the department. The ongoing delay recently prompted him to file a complaint with the California Department of Justice, he said.

For Miller, she worries the failed Oakland Crime Stoppers program means there’s one less tool that detectives can work with to solve her husband’s case — and possibly others.

Miller and Schwerma were former high school sweethearts. They were married for 24 years and share a son together. Their love endured, Miller said, even after she and her son moved out of the area as Schwerma battled addiction. 

“Yeah, he was working on that, you know?” Miller said. “Will never gave up. He had been through so much and he still really had a positive outlook, and he meant to come back from this and come back to the family.”

Then, in August, police knocked on her door in the middle of the night.

“They said that Will Schwerma was dead, and I just couldn’t even comprehend it,” Miller said. “I just fell to my knees and went blank.”

Two months later, Shawarma’s killer hasn’t been arrested. Miller said her husband was shot in a part of town where people generally don’t trust law enforcement, but she hoped a financial incentive might help with that.

“I talked to the police, and they said, yes, there was a reward through Crime Stoppers,” Miller said. 

But as an Oakland Crime Stoppers “board member” confirmed, the group hasn’t met or paid out a single reward since January 2021 and has been locked out of its bank account since two of its founding members passed away. The board member spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing for their safety if it was revealed they worked in partnership with police. 

NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit reached a second Oakland Crime Stoppers board member by phone, but the conversation only raised more questions about the program and its murky relationship with Oakland police. 

They told NBC Bay Area the Oakland Crime Stoppers Board hasn’t met since the pandemic, nor have they received any communication from the Oakland Police Department. 

They were also unsure how much reward money was left in the Oakland Crime Stoppers fund, how the program raises money, or the status of its banking issues. While the department advertises rewards of up to $10,000, or even more in certain cases, both board members who spoke to NBC Bay Area said tipsters rarely, if ever, receive that amount.

The Oakland Police Department told NBC Bay Area it’s known about Oakland Crime Stoppers’ banking woes since September 2022, yet a review of the department’s press releases revealed it’s advertised cash rewards in at least seven cases since then despite the inability to pay up if tipsters came forward.

There are other red flags as well.

For instance, Oakland Crime Stoppers doesn’t have a website, unlike other local Crime Stoppers programs, and its non-profit status has been suspended for at least a decade, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. 

While most Crime Stoppers programs across the country act as a buffer between tipsters and law enforcement, the Oakland Crime Stoppers program seems to be largely coordinated by the Oakland Police Department itself. The board members say the Oakland Crime Stoppers tip line goes directly to police and that the only function of the board is to approve reward payouts when approached by the department. 

Miller said people in Oakland are less likely to come forward if their information was going directly to police. She heard this firsthand, she said, when she visited the area where her husband was killed as she desperately searched for answers.

“I told people verbally there is a reward out for information,” Miller said. “And people thought, you know, this is connected to the police. They wanted nothing to do with it because they don’t feel like it’s anonymous.”

In an email to NBC Bay Area, Crime Stoppers USA distanced themselves from Crime Stoppers of Oakland and said the group wasn’t following best practices.

“The program using the Crime Stoppers name is not and has not been a member of Crime Stoppers USA and does not appear to be using our standards or best practices,” the organization wrote. “We have been unable to find it to have a corporate existence or board of directors. It seems to be a law enforcement agency simply using our name.”

The Oakland Police Department said no department personnel serve on the Oakland Crime Stoppers board, though they do have a liaison to the group. 

The department has continued to decline interview requests, but previously sent a statement saying: 

"In 2022, the fund was closed, and communication was affected. While there were some challenges, there was never any intention to mislead the public. The Department values collaboration with the group, as it plays a vital role in the betterment of our community. We plan to work with the board to get things back up and running.”

Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb said he planned to urge the department to address the ongoing issues with the Crime Stoppers program.

“I’m going to bring this up to make sure that this is a high priority for the police department, as it should be,” Kalb said.

Miller isn't sure if her husband’s case will ever be solved. While she waits for answers from police, she’s doing everything she can to keep Schwerma’s memory alive.

“This man was precious, precious to me and precious to his family,” Miller said. “I want his story out there. I want people to know how great he was and how loved he was.”