Crime Stoppers CEO Pay Skyrockets Even As Crime Tips Tank

Crime doesn’t pay. But being the CEO of Crime Stoppers Houston sure does.

As both the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times recently reported, Rania Mankarious, the “CEO” of Crime Stoppers Houston, raked in a salary of $275,982 last year.

That means Rania—who runs a tip line to help the sheriff solve crimes in Harris County—is paid more than the actual sheriff of Harris County. She’s also paid more than District Attorney Kimbra Ogg, County Judge Lina Hidalgo, or any of the four County Commissioners. Rania even earns more than the mayor of Houston, who serves as the chief executive officer of the fourth largest city in the country. 

You might be asking yourself: Do government leaders simply earn less than the leaders of not-for-profit organizations? That wouldn’t solve the mystery of how Rania’s executive pay has gone wild. Consider Lone Star Legal Services, a Houston-based non-profit that serves 72 counties along the Gulf Coast and has a budget twelve times larger than the budget of Crime Stoppers Houston. According to its latest tax filing, Lone Star pays its top executive $188,475—nearly $100,000 less than Rania took from Crime Stoppers.

It is often the case that organizations boost executive compensation to reward extraordinary performance. But measured in terms of the organization’s most vital function—which is to garner tips that help the police solve serious crimes—the organization performed worse last year even as Rania’s salary spiked from $205,000 to $275,000. 

In fact, the Crime Stoppers tip line both generated 25% fewer solved cases and spent fewer dollars compensating tipsters last tax year than it did the year before.

Solving shootings and murders is always a top priority for both government officials and non-profit leaders who work in the public safety realm. And right now is a particularly important time to do so given that murders are on the rise in Houston. Crime Stoppers Houston could play an important role. In fact, not too long ago, but certainly before Rania’s tenure, Crime Stoppers solved 2.5x more cases than it did last year. 

But generating the tips that solve serious crimes requires unrelenting focus, and it appears that Rania’s focus—while unrelenting—is more on boosting her own image and salary than on solving gun violence. She galivants around Houston society parties so often that the Houston Chronicle labeled her among the city’s “most stylish people” and Houston Culture Map highlighted her “stylishly strutting” her “Old Hollywood Glam” at a “swanky soiree.” She recently published a book on “the online world.” And she’s never met a television camera she didn’t like or a podium she didn’t want to use for a keynote address—she even has her own professional speaker’s bureau page. This is all interesting stuff, but it doesn’t reserve much time for ensuring that Crime Stoppers is, uh, stopping crime. 

The good news is that if Rania decides to get back to work, she has ample space in which to get work done. For starters, there is the $10 million building that she forced the organization to buy, a debt which has helped to render the organization cash flow negative over the past few years. And then there is her palatial 8,000 square foot estate that Realtor.com estimates is worth $5,000,000. To tamp down the stress of crime fighting, Rania can look out of her home’s “floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pool and zen garden.” If the stress becomes too much at times, she can retreat to the “wet bar” near her fireplace. And when the tip line rings off the hook, Rania can roll up her sleeves in either of her “two home offices.”

Houston Watch did not immediately receive a comment from Rania by the time of publication, which is understandable given how hard it is to find your laptop or cell phone in that much space.