MID-YEAR REPORT
As of today Crime Stoppers featured 27 wanted posters and received 187 phone and text tips from citizens. As a result of those tips, 12 wanted persons were arrested, to include one robbery accomplice unknown at the time of the robbery. One subject, who was wanted on a stolen gun charge, was arrested on a tip and was in possession of another stolen gun resulting in a new charge.
Crime Stoppers receives many drug related tips. That information is sent to the Lancaster County Drug Task Force, Lancaster City Police Selective Enforcement Unit, or individual police departments. Drug investigations can sometimes take weeks or months and the results may not always be noticeable or immediate. Every bit of drug information is like a piece of a puzzle.
6 tips either led to the identification of a subject involved in a crime or provided additional information about a crime. In some of these cases a subject was charged and later arrested or the investigation is continuing.
To date Crime Stoppers paid out 10 rewards. Not every tip led to a reward, and of those tips that did lead to an arrest, not every tipster wanted a reward.
Late in 2011 Crime Stoppers launched TIP411, a program that allows citizens to report crime information anonymously by texting. In 2011, Crime Stoppers had a total of 124 tips. With the addition of TIP411, at midyear we are now at 187 tips. This includes phone, text and web tips. By year's end we expect to have over 300 tips.
Crime Stoppers has partnered with three Lancaster County school districts by providing a keyword at a reduced cost that enables those school districts to have their own district-wide text tip program. Successful in other states, the school text tip program allows students to report information anonymously to school resource officers or administrators about crimes or issues in the schools.
With email forwarding, Crime Stoppers posters go out to countless recipients. With the help of Lancaster Newspapers, the weekly poster is published in daily newspapers and on the third Thursday of each month a half-page color ad features several wanted subjects as well as four requests for information. Along with our website (www.lancastercrimestoppers.org) we launched at the beginning of this year, this increases the reach of Crime Stoppers to the community. In a partnership with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and the United States Marshall's Office Eastern District Fugitive Task Force, through a tip link on the Sheriff's Office web site, Crime Stoppers takes information about fugitives 24/7. We have a tip link on the Lancaster City web site as well as several County of Lancaster websites. The Lancaster City Police features Crime Stoppers information on their Facebook site.
And lastly, Crime Stoppers owes a debt of gratitude to the supervisors at Lancaster County Wide Communications. These are the professionals who answer Crime Stopper phone calls and respond to text and web tips. In addition to their supervisory duties of emergency dispatchers, in between emergencies they take the time to communicate with tipsters and obtain information on crimes or wanted subjects. That information is immediately forwarded to the police liaison who then forwards it to the appropriate agency.
Crime Stoppers continues to grow, but without the support of Lancaster City and Lancaster County leadership our mission would be dead in the water. By allowing access to City and County email our message reaches countless citizens who are the eyes and ears of Crime Stoppers.
On behalf of Crime Stoppers-Thank you for a great half year!
As of today Crime Stoppers featured 27 wanted posters and received 187 phone and text tips from citizens. As a result of those tips, 12 wanted persons were arrested, to include one robbery accomplice unknown at the time of the robbery. One subject, who was wanted on a stolen gun charge, was arrested on a tip and was in possession of another stolen gun resulting in a new charge.
Crime Stoppers receives many drug related tips. That information is sent to the Lancaster County Drug Task Force, Lancaster City Police Selective Enforcement Unit, or individual police departments. Drug investigations can sometimes take weeks or months and the results may not always be noticeable or immediate. Every bit of drug information is like a piece of a puzzle.
6 tips either led to the identification of a subject involved in a crime or provided additional information about a crime. In some of these cases a subject was charged and later arrested or the investigation is continuing.
To date Crime Stoppers paid out 10 rewards. Not every tip led to a reward, and of those tips that did lead to an arrest, not every tipster wanted a reward.
Late in 2011 Crime Stoppers launched TIP411, a program that allows citizens to report crime information anonymously by texting. In 2011, Crime Stoppers had a total of 124 tips. With the addition of TIP411, at midyear we are now at 187 tips. This includes phone, text and web tips. By year's end we expect to have over 300 tips.
Crime Stoppers has partnered with three Lancaster County school districts by providing a keyword at a reduced cost that enables those school districts to have their own district-wide text tip program. Successful in other states, the school text tip program allows students to report information anonymously to school resource officers or administrators about crimes or issues in the schools.
With email forwarding, Crime Stoppers posters go out to countless recipients. With the help of Lancaster Newspapers, the weekly poster is published in daily newspapers and on the third Thursday of each month a half-page color ad features several wanted subjects as well as four requests for information. Along with our website (www.lancastercrimestoppers.org) we launched at the beginning of this year, this increases the reach of Crime Stoppers to the community. In a partnership with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and the United States Marshall's Office Eastern District Fugitive Task Force, through a tip link on the Sheriff's Office web site, Crime Stoppers takes information about fugitives 24/7. We have a tip link on the Lancaster City web site as well as several County of Lancaster websites. The Lancaster City Police features Crime Stoppers information on their Facebook site.
And lastly, Crime Stoppers owes a debt of gratitude to the supervisors at Lancaster County Wide Communications. These are the professionals who answer Crime Stopper phone calls and respond to text and web tips. In addition to their supervisory duties of emergency dispatchers, in between emergencies they take the time to communicate with tipsters and obtain information on crimes or wanted subjects. That information is immediately forwarded to the police liaison who then forwards it to the appropriate agency.
Crime Stoppers continues to grow, but without the support of Lancaster City and Lancaster County leadership our mission would be dead in the water. By allowing access to City and County email our message reaches countless citizens who are the eyes and ears of Crime Stoppers.
On behalf of Crime Stoppers-Thank you for a great half year!
