There was a thread about a similar program a while back. Perhaps it was even this one.
As I recall, the anonymous caller would get a code number they could use to call back later and find out if they qualified for the reward.
If so, they could then make 'confidential' arrangements to pick up their reward. I forget what, if any, safeguards against false information there were. My gut tells me there weren't any - a malevolent person could call the number from a pay phone with no intention of collecting a reward, make a phony report, and never be heard from again. And the vitim would be subjected to what?
Now suppose they instead reported he saw a guy at such & such address put a sniper rifle into (or take out of) his trunk. Whether or not it was in a case. Would the PD respond or not? This is unclear.
If you think about it, the real difference with such a program is that it encourages people to 'innocently' report their neighbor's or ex's legal firearms. "Oops!", they can say.
Without a program like this, you can still have phony anonymous reports, if that's the caller's intention.
To me, one big question is how carefully do the police screen these calls before dispatching?
If they do nothing on non-handguns, that's one thing. But it just sounds like an enabling program for pissed-off liberals & soccer moms, or soreheads who got into a road rage incident when they should have backed off and swallowed their pride.