Melvin run pays off for AC Crime Stoppers
Historians only can speculate if Allen County Crime Stoppers could have helped authorities catch Charley Melvin any quicker than they did a century ago.
Melvin, as history books show, took his prohibitionist views to the extreme shortly after midnight on July 10, 1905, when he ignited more than 150 sticks of dynamite, blasting to smith-ereens three saloons on West Street.
No one was killed in the blast, but it was felt for miles around.
The nearby Allen County Courthouse, barely a year old, had most every window shattered from the concussion. The blast also stopped the courthouse clocks, which is how historians knew the exact time of the explosion.
Townsfolk knew from the outset Melvin was responsible; he had written letters to the governor, mayor and other dignitaries that he was planning something big.
“There will be a hot time in the old town some night … if the lid is not put on,” the serving of alcohol, he declared.
Still, it took authorities nearly a month to find Melvin, hiding in a railroad camp in eastern Iowa, before he was returned to justice.
“Who knows if we could have helped,” said Mike Ford, community resource officer with the Iola Police Department and coordinator of Allen County Crime Stoppers.
Would the “boom, boom, boom” of dynamite have been quickly followed by a “ring, ring, ring” of tipsters phoning in Melvin’s whereabouts?
They certainly would have been enticed to call police, noted Crime Stoppers board president Elizabeth Donnelly, especially had they known that the organization can pay up to $1,000 in the resolution of unsolved local crimes.
Alas, Allen County’s group formed about 90 years too late to have a hand in the Melvin case.
Still, Donnelly and Ford want to remind the public that Crime Stoppers has become a valued tool for local law enforcement.
Crime Stoppers receives tips from individuals, who may remain anonymous, that are forwarded to law enforcement officials in efforts to resolve criminal cases. Tipsters are eligible to receive cash awards.
Tips may be phoned to a toll-free number at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
CRIME STOPPERS is co-sponsoring tonight’s Charley Melvin Mad Bomber Run For Your Life with Thrive Allen County.
Festivities kicked off this afternoon on the courthouse square and will culminate at 12:26 a.m. Saturday with the start of the 5-kilometer run and 3-kilometer walk. The unique starting time is set precisely 105 years after Melvin lit the fuse to the dynamite.
Tonight’s activities serve as the largest fund raiser of the year for Crime Stoppers, Ford said, which is vital for the organization to meet its annual expenses.
One such cost is the $600 paid annually to Anderson Software, which oversees the group’s website and stores records of tips.
The software charges accommodate recent changes in the Crime Stoppers protocol. No longer are tips fielded by local police, but rather a call center in LaPorte, Texas. Anonymity was the reason for the switch.
“We live in a small town, and if you call me, there’s a chance I may recognize your voice,” Ford said, thus peeling away any hope for a tipster to remain anonymous.
Now, information is processed at the call center, then sent via computer to Ford or other police officers through the Crime Scene Information (CSI) program. Anderson Software also processes tips sent to www.allencountycs.org or from text messages sent to “crimes.” Instructions for text message usage is available at the Crime Stoppers Web site.
The software also calculates reward amounts, using case-related information such as the number of resulting arrests, type of crime or whether weapons were used.
That information is also forwarded to Ford, who submits the claims to the Crime Stoppers’ nine-member board for a final say.
Crime Stoppers also must pay about $500 annually in insurance premiums to protect its members from any civil claims filed by those implicated from local tips.
“Remember, these board members are all volunteer, and they’re acting in the community’s best interest,” Ford said. “They shouldn’t be forced to pay to defend themselves if somebody sues the board.”
Funds also are used for annual training.
Allen County board members also are active in Kansas Crime Stoppers. Iolan Bruce Cochran has served as the State Crime Stoppers president. Roberta Ellis, Donnelly and Ford also have offices at the state level.
Donnelly encouraged Allen Countians to attend the board’s monthly meetings.
“We’d really like to get people from Humboldt, Moran, Elsmore — anywhere in the county,” she said. It is Allen County Crime Stoppers, after all, she noted.
The group meets the first Monday of each month, and will consider rotating the meetings to neighboring towns if enough interest is generated.
CRIME Stoppers became involved with the inaugural Melvin run last summer as part of Iola’s sesquicentennial celebration.
As part of the sesquicentennial board, Ford was looking for different activities local organizations could manage to celebrate Iola’s history.
“And I’d always been interested in Charley Melvin’s story,” Ford said.
Matching Crime Stoppers with such a notorious crime was a natural fit.
Ford contacted David Toland of Thrive about activities to relate to the Melvin story. That’s when the Melvin run took shape.
“I don’t know if anybody figured it would be that big,” Ford said. “I would have been happy if 100 people showed up.”
More than 400 actually did.
“None of this would have been possible without the work of Thrive,” Ford said. “We’re honored to be a part.”
Tonight’s Melvin run promises to be even bigger.
As of this morning, 440 walkers and runners had registered. Organizers hope to see a large walk-up crowd as well.
“We’re really hoping the Melvin run remains so successful that we don’t have to do any other fund raisers through the year,” Donnelly said.
