The Crowd Polices Itself
Robert King interviews the coordinator of Crime Stoppers program in Fairfax County, Virginia
During October and November 2005, one of the most unusual and fascinating cases of serial robbery was being carried out in Northern Virginia. An attractive young woman was video taped committing four robberies at separate branches of the Wachovia Bank. Unusual, in that women do not typically commit armed robberies, fascinating because this attractive young woman was brandishing a gun and demanding money from a teller, all while apparently holding a conversation on her cell phone. Kraig Troxell, Loundon County Sheriff's Spokesman said, "This is the first time we've had a crime committed while the person was using a cell phone." (CBS/AP, November 11, 2005)
On a Thursday, Crime Solvers released a photograph of the loquacious heistess requesting information from the public about her identity and whereabouts. Friday was a holiday, and throughout the weekend the answering service for Crime Solvers continued to receive tips. On Saturday, police were able to issue a warrant for Candice Rose Martinez, age 19. Her apartment was searched, but Ms. Martinez failed to return to her apartment the entire weekend. Police requested assistance, again from the public to locate Ms. Martinez. By Tuesday morning, in Centerville Virgina, an astute FBI agent spotted a license plate on a car the FBI had been searching for. Ms. Martinez, and her co-conspirator boyfriend, Dave C. Williams, 19, were arrested. Perhaps Ms. Martinez and her boyfriend were on the Family Plan with their cell phones. She reportedly stated it was Mr. Williams on the other end of that cell phone. He was waiting in the get away vehicle.
The Washington Post reported, "Tips from the public -- after photos and video footage of the bandit were published and broadcast nationwide -- led authorities to Martinez, court records show. Fairfax police said their Crime Solvers tip line received more than 30 calls Friday after the images were shown, including remarkably clear surveillance video of the woman at a teller's window in Ashburn."
I interviewed Shelley Broderick, the coordinator for the Crime Solvers Program in Fairfax County, Virginia, to find out more about how the organization worked.
"Do you know what Crime Solvers is" she asked. I thought I did.
First and foremost, she makes me understand an important distinction: "Crime Solvers is not the police." There is a common public misconception that the police are the ones who pay the cash rewards for tipster information that ultimately leads to an arrest. Actually, much of the actual money used to run the service and pay rewards is gathered through fundraising.
"Crime Solvers is a non-profit tip answering service," she notes. Cash rewards are offered to tipsters who call a tip line with information that ultimately leads to the arrest of an individual. "It is a 501C-3 Organization."
The Fairfax County Crime Solvers web site states that, "Crime Solvers is a non-profit organization which relies solely on donations from local businesses and private citizens. No tax dollars are used for rewards. In short, Crime Solvers depends on you for the funds to pay those who provide the information that helps Crime Solvers fight crime!"
Crime Solvers is a community oriented organization that collaboratively involves: the business community; private citizens; The Fairfax County Police Dept.; and the news media. A Board of Directors is comprised of a collaboration of individual and business-owner volunteers within a community. "Typically, it's in the business' best interest to have the organization running because it protects their community; it's an investment," Shelley informs me. Thus, much of the actual money used to run the service and pay rewards is gathered through fundraising.
Additionally, to maintain membership, boards pay a yearly fee to Crime Stoppers International, the parent organization. Bylaws are established that dictate many aspects of how the board operates, ranging from fundraising, to how tips are rewarded.
It seems intuitive that Crime Solvers would be a win-win proposition and successful for most cities. However, not all communities have success at running a Crime Solver's Chapter. A chapter can fail due to a lack of funding and interest. In Alexandria, Virginia, a local chapter dissolved "because there weren't active board members to keep fundraising to make the program happen."
So, how exactly does the Crime Solver's model work? A tipster calls a tip in regarding a specific crime, or a specific perpetrator. The tipster is then assigned a tip number that they can reference to check the status of their tip to determine if an arrest has been made. This protects their anonymity, and prevents possible future acts of retribution against the tipster.
"In some states, there are laws that are in place to protect tip line callers, but some states don't have these laws. Also, some states do not allow tip sheets, records, or conversations admissible as evidence into a court of law," said Broderick.
A case also doesn't have to garner media attention or national coverage for a tipster to receive a reward, as there is no difference between a case on television and a case that is not reported on. All cases are treated equally. Fairfax County, however, does have a "Case of the Week" program where there is a guaranteed US $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of an individual in that specific case.
But what if two people call in with the same tip; who then receives the reward?
"The First person who calls in, (with information that leads to an arrest) usually gets the reward." With the cell phone bandit, the tipster who "kept providing information on the case," received the reward.
I inquire about cases involving high-profile individuals or famous people, but it's still the same process: "Dispatch has protocols for handling high profile reports, but the tips are still passed onto the local police detectives in the case of a local crime." Dispatch members receive yearly training on how to process these tips and handle issues.
The validity of the tips are not verified by Crime Solvers. "All information is passed onto the detectives, who determine the validity of those tips... each jurisdiction operates slightly differently, but basically information is received by the tip answering service, passed on to dispatchers, who then pass the tips on to the detectives who investigate the tips."
How successful is Crime Solvers? According to the Fairfax Crime Stoppers web site, "Since the program began in October 1979, information received through Crime Solvers has led to the arrest of almost 800 criminals, including more than 200 fugitives, and the closure of more than 1,700 crimes, which include murders, rapes, robberies and burglaries. Over $3,291,585 in stolen property and illegal narcotics has been recovered."
5/2/07
