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Anonymous tips help law enforcement solve crimes
Feb 12, 2012 (Times-News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Fingerprints. DNA. The smoking gun.
When that kind of evidence is left behind at a crime scene, it makes a detective's job easier. But more often it's information from witnesses and from the public that helps law enforcement officers solve crimes.
"It may be one little piece that helps put the puzzle together and that's all we are looking for, pieces of the puzzle," said retired Burlington Police Cpl. Stan Moss, who now works part-time in the department's crime prevention unit and serves as the liaison between the Alamance County Crime Stoppers board and area police departments.
Since the Crime Stoppers program was started in Alamance County in the early 1980s, the tips provided by the public have helped authorities solve at least three murders, four bank robberies and a slew of other crimes, Moss said.
Over the years, more than $70,000 in rewards have been paid to tip providers ranging from $50 to $2,000 and have led to a wide assortment of charges from shoplifting to violent offenses.
"Through Crime Stoppers tips, law enforcement has recovered over a million dollars in stolen property and drugs," Moss said.
Sometimes the information might not seem that important to the person providing it and on its face, it might not lead investigators to an arrest. But it could be enough to prompt a search warrant, which might uncover evidence that results in a charge.
"A tip may help further an investigation, and we'll still pay on it," Moss said.
In the past, tips generated through Crime Stoppers have helped the Gibsonville Police Department find stolen goods or make arrests in assault and narcotics cases, said Gibsonville Police Chief Mike Woznick.
Sometimes the information is accurate and detailed enough to solve a case quickly. Other times, it just points investigators in the right direction.
"Even if the tip is not bulls-eye on, it generates dialogue and gives perspective that might not be considered otherwise," Woznick said.
The Crime Stoppers phone is answered by someone in the Burlington Police Department's records division from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and the rest of the time, the calls are answered by a telecommunicator in Burlington's communication's division, so it's covered 24 hours, seven days a week.
Regardless of who answers the phone, the caller's identity isn't revealed. Crime Stoppers calls come in on a line that doesn't have caller identification and the calls cannot be traced. Tip providers are given a number. They are told to call back to see if an arrest was made in the case and a reward given.
"We have no way of knowing who the individual is," said Paul Cobb, the chairman of the Crime Stoppers board. "They don't report anything as far as names and there is no way for, say, defense attorneys to be able to follow up on that, and it's planned that way."
Once an arrest is made in a given case, Moss presents the information to a 12-member Crime Stoppers board, which is made up of local residents, and the board decides on the amount of the reward, which is paid for solely through donations. The person will be told to pick up their reward at an area bank, and they will sign for the money by using their assigned Crime Stoppers number.
For more than a year, Angela Satterfield, an administrative assistant in the Burlington Police Department's criminal investigative division, answered the Crime Stoppers line. It wasn't unusual for callers to first ask, "Can you tell where I'm calling from?" before providing information.
"Once I explained how Crime Stoppers worked, they felt better about it," Satterfield said. "A lot of times you would get repeat callers once they know how the program worked. I think more people would call if they knew it was anonymous. Even though you have a live voice on the other end, we don't know you and we don't want to know who you are."
Calls to Crime Stoppers tend to increase following a murder or serious crime.
"Whenever something is high profile, we always get more calls," Satterfield said.
If the information provided is for an ongoing case, the law enforcement agency investigating is contacted immediately. Otherwise, a form is filled out with information about the tip, which is then forwarded to the agency.
The fact that Crime Stoppers pays for good tips -- information that leads to an arrest -- is definitely an incentive for many of the people who call in. But it's the anonymity of the program that is often the bigger draw.
"I think any time you make reporting crime easier and where it can be done privately it is a benefit," said Graham Police Chief Jeff Prichard. "We see it all the time these days where people do not want to get involved for fear of retaliation, having to testify in court or being sued."
Haw River Police Chief Neal Dickens said his department has solved serious felonies and has found fugitives as a result of tips.
"I am sure that if Crime Stoppers was not in place, we would miss a lot of information due to citizens wanting to give information but not wanting to give their names," Dickens said.
Even without a cash reward, people interested in helping to rid their neighborhoods of crime will sometimes get involved if they can do it anonymously.
"I think people still want to do the right thing and report wrongdoing and Crime Stoppers is an excellent way for folks to do just that," Prichard said. "I believe being able to financially compensate callers is an added bonus."
In addition to the Crime Stoppers phone line, the Campus Crime Stoppers program, which has been in all the middle and high schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System since 1998, encourages students to provide school resource officers with information about crimes.
"In that method, the SRO may know who the student is but certainly he's not going to tell," said Alamance County Sheriff's Maj. Monte Holland, who also serves on the Crime Stoppers board. "It's a valuable tool to keep campuses safe."
Burlington's Crime Stoppers program was one of the first formed in the state and even though it's been around for more than 30 years, there are still some people who don't know about Crime Stoppers or understand how it works, Moss said.
"I think there is a feeling that people don't know about it," Moss said. "Sometimes people in the county feel it's more of a city thing. People in Mebane might think it's more of a Burlington thing. We want to make sure everyone realizes that we represent every law enforcement agency in the county."
___ (c)2012 Times-News (Burlington, N.C.) Visit Times-News (Burlington, N.C.)
at www.thetimesnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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