CRIME STOPPERS/COUNTY ATTORNEY TEAM UP FOR ROUNDUP

County Attorney Jana Duty has released the figures for the 2007 Hot Check Roundup.  Results as of August Th are very impressive and Duty’s office was   pleased with the efforts of the Williamson County Crime Stoppers.  The difficult work of tracking down those wanted for theft by check was performed by the County Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement agencies.  Crime Stoppers handled the publicity for the Roundup and placed ads containing pictures of the most wanted for theft by check in seven local newspapers.  Local TV stations and newspaper reporters had opportunities for one on one interviews with Jana Duty. Joe Teiber, Chairman of the Crime Stoppers Board, reports that television and newspaper coverage was very powerful this year.  Teiber said, “the ads with wanted people’s pictures in the local papers truly kick started this years Roundup.”

Sgt. Melissa Hightower of the County Attorney’s Office provided the following Roundup results as of August Th.

                                      Cases disposed of/closed:                       284

                                      Warrant roundup arrests:                         130

                                      Restitution/check fees collected:     $88,905.48

Some agencies are still tracking down people but the August Th count will be considered official.

Campus Crime Stoppers is not a new program, but it is new here in Williamson County.  Leander ISD and Wilco Crime Stoppers have reached agreement to run Campus Crime Stoppers in Leander schools in conjunction with their existing Safe Schools Program.  Other school districts have indicated interest in developing Campus Crime Stoppers Programs.  Crime Stoppers has asked that other districts hold off until the Leander program is up and running since this is the first Campus program the Williamson County group has initiated.  Joe Zizzi, Crime Stoppers Board member who will oversee the Campus programs says, “we’re new at this and we want to be certain that we get it right before we reach out to other districts”  Zizzi wants to assure other interested districts that “as soon as we have Leander in place and running as it should, we will be ready to sign up those districts that are interested.”

With all of these activities ongoing, Crime Stoppers has not lost sight of original goals of paying rewards for tips.  Year to date there have been 15 suspects arrested as a result of tips; 14 rewards have been paid; rewards paid amount to  $4,250.00; narcotics seized totals $4,225.00 and restitution paid totals $4,144.54.  

The Williamson County Crime Stoppers Board wants to publicly thank the County Attorney’s Office, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and all of the law enforcement agencies in the county that have worked so closely with our program. All of us working together have made the Crime Stoppers program successful and able to say, “Crime doesn’t pay, Crime Stoppers does.”

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER TIPS TOTAL $2800

At the October and November Crime Stoppers Board meetings the number of tips processed was low, but the productivity of the tips processed was very pleasing.

One bit of success was a team effort between Wilco Crime Stoppers and the Florence, TX PD.  Chief Jeff Dever was having a problem getting leads on local burglaries so he asked Crime Stoppers if they would runs some adds with information about the crimes and see if someone in the public might step forward and help the Florence PD make and arrest.  The ads ran in The  Williamson County Sun and the next thing we knew we had tips that ultimately lead to 2 arrests and solved 3 crimes. 

This is another instance of Crime Stoppers and law enforcement teaming up with terrific success.  We are so pleased with our newspaper advertising program thus far, that we contemplating taking it to another level.  It seems the more we get the tip number in front of the public, the more value we are to law enforcement and to the community.

In summary Oct/Nov. tips resulted in at total of nine arrests with a total of 12 crimes being solved.  Alarming but true is that 8 of the 12 crimes solved were “drug related”.   That means everything from the possession of marijuana to possession crack cocaine, some for personal use, some for sale to others.  In total, the arrests made as the result of tips processed in Oct/Nov removed drugs totaling $5280 from our streets.  Property valued at $500 was returned to victims. 

One arrest was made for indecency with a child.  So as we said upfront, the number of tips may be low, but the value to the community is high and the help that they provide law enforcement is immeasurable.

The Campus Crime Stoppers/Safe Schools program has been introduced and is now in place in the Leander ISD.  The same program has also been adopted by the RRISD and we recently met with administrators from the Taylor ISD who have expressed similar interest.  We are hoping to hear an OK from them soon.  Other schools and law enforcement officials have also expressed interest.  As of this writing the Safe Schools program has yielded tips, but it is too soon to report arrests.  If, as you read about the Campus Crime Stoppers/Safe Schools Program, you feel it would be a positive for your school, contact your school administrators or Williamson County Crime Stoppers.  This is a great program and you can get it started where it benefits your children.

“crime doesn’t pay,  crime stoppers does!”