Posted by: Francis Koster Published: April 7, 2013

Putting a Stop to More Crime

 Putting a Stop to More Crime

by Francis P. Koster, Ed.D.

This is a crime story with a surprising ending. The "bad guys" can behave like "good guys", if we give them the right tools. The result is that the cops nab more "bad guys". 

Reported crime in America has been steadily dropping for many years. Murders, burglary and car theft  dropped by more than half between 1980 and 2009.  Even rape went down 22%[i].    This reduction is  good news. 

The bad news is that the "solved" rate is also falling. What the cops call the "clearance rate" (arrest has been made, case has been turned over for prosecution, or bad guy is dead) has dropped from around 90 percent in the 1960's to below 65% in recent years.  Police fail to make arrests in more than one third of all homicides.  In recent years, there has been a decline in arrests are made for crimes against property.[ii] 

Used to be we had a "neighbor against neighbor" crime pattern, where the background, historic animosity, and network of multi-generational families offered law enforcement access to information and many ways to investigate. Now we have more of a "gang against gang" pattern, where the crimes are often done by strangers onto strangers, and retaliation against those who help the police.  

So we need a system that increases the chances a criminal will be caught  once a crime is committed. Since may offenders commit multiple crimes, catching them for one reduces the likelihood of their doing more. 

One voluntary citizen initiative now in place to help the cops solve more crimes is called Crime Stoppers.   Started in 1975, the program has two key ingredients. The first is that it pays a reward. The second is that it keeps the identity of someone who calls Crime Stoppers a secret.  

Crime Stoppers posts its phone numbers around town. When someone has information about a crime, they call either a local or national phone number (the national number is 1-800-222-TIPS), report what they know, and are issued a secret identifying number. If the information is accurate, and helps lead to a conviction, the tipsters contact Crime stoppers, identify themselves by the magic secret number, and receive the reward. There are now more than 1200 local Crime Stopper chapters.[iii] 

Since its founding, Crime Stoppers tipsters have contributed information which led to over 600,000 arrests, collected  a million dollars in reward money, and helped achieve confiscation of drugs valued at more than three million dollars[iv].  In many cases the rewards are not accepted - the tipster tells Crime Stoppers to keep the money to get more bad guys off the street. 

In Collier County, Florida, after rumors of expanding drug use in the school began to spread, special efforts were made to let high school students know of the local Crime Stoppers phone number.  In a two week period, there were 18 arrests made, half of which came from tips phoned in by students.[v] 

Now here is the clever idea about how to make this good system even better. 

Some Crime Stoppers groups are working with local jail and prison systems to make it easier and safer for inmates to offer tips. 

In Tallahassee Florida, concerned citizens and law enforcement produced 100,000 decks of special playing cards. The cards were printed with regular playing card symbols of hearts, clubs, etc., on one side and details of unsolved crimes on the other, along with the Crime Stoppers contact information.  The cards were made available to inmates. Tipsters furnished information solving two murders as a result.[vi]  

In Tulsa Oklahoma, the sheriff's office processes 32,000 people a year, with an average daily population of around 1,700. (Many of the 32,000 are in for just a day or so until bail is arraigned).  Crime Stoppers tip line phone numbers s are included in the handbook issued to all new inmates, and publicized elsewhere in the jail.[vii]  Based on phone records, Tulsa corrections officials know that the Crime Stopper phone number is being called from the phones reserved for inmates use.   They also have indications that  when a short term inmate hears gossip or bragging about a crime while in jail, they often call the tip in when they return home, or can access a public phone.[viii] 

So we have here an existing volunteer program which is working impressively in 1200 locations - and could be made even more effective if its'  marketing were expanded aggressively into the locations where the criminals are. We can make our society safer, if we just give the inmates the tools. 


[i] Table 306, Crimes and crime rates by type of offense:1980 to 2009, US Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the US, 2012

[vii] E-mail communication Ms. Shannon Clark, Public Information Officer, Tulsa County Sheriff's office.

[viii] Ibid

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