Crime Stoppers looks to boost visibility

When drivers enter the city limits of Allen County communities they will be greeted by brand new Crime Stoppers signs.
The signs are reminders that community members want their county to be safe and how others can join their cause.
The Allen County Crime Stoppers began in January 1993 with the help of the Emporia Crime Stoppers.
Allen County is mentoring Woodson County with its program. The Allen group has grown to more than a dozen members, some of whom have been there since the beginning.
Julie Strickler, Crime Stoppers president, has been a part of the organization for 10 years.
A former fifth-grade instructor at Jefferson Elementary School, Strickler was encouraged to join the group by Mike Ford, Iola police officer and DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instructor.
“My uncle was an officer in Reno County and helped start the Reno County’s Crime Stoppers,” she said.
When he died in 2005, she decided to honor his memory and help her local organization.
Ford said the organization has added several new members.
“We have a huge presence at the state level, too,” said Ford, a state level chairmen and past president. “I try to push local members to be a part of it at the state level.”
Iolan Roberta Ellis is the state secretary; other locals have served as state president.
At the annual state conference Allen County learns from other clubs to see how they work.

THROUGH the years Crime Stoppers has solved dozens of high-profile cases in the county. The group helped solve a rape, 70 different cases of window vandalism, arsons and home invasions.
There are various ways to anonymously report a crime. Report a tip to: 1-800-222-TIPS, www.allencountycs.org, or text your message to CRIMES.
Ford said the system is designed so tipsters remain anonymous. Calls go to an answering service in Texas, where  information is forwarded to Allen County.
“People don’t have to worry about their voice being recognized or their phone number,” he said.
As for texts, start the message with “Allen” and then add your message. For example, “Allen John Doe is selling drugs at Washington School.” The text goes through the system and the tipster’s number is removed.
Tipsters also can go online and submit a tip; IP addresses are not monitored.
“We’re not interested in knowing your name,” Ford said.
Ford goes through the tips and notifies authorities in the jurisdiction.
Those who give a tip are given an ID number to see if they are eligible for a reward.
An award is only given when a crime is resolved. Delivery of the reward money also remains anonymous. The group can set up a place for the person to pick up the money and never give away their identity.
“Sometimes people just want to stop the crime and do the right thing,” Strickler said. “It’s not about the money.”
So far this year there has been 34 tips. In 2014 there were 52 tips, 18 arrests, 16 cleared cases, 36 different charges filed, $1,200 in drugs seized and five rewards given.
Strickler and Ford encourage people to report any crime they see. One tip could help a case.
“Cases take time to build and I don’t want people to think we’re not doing anything,” Ford said. “That one tip might put it over the edge.”

THE group raises its own money for rewards through fundraisers, most prominently, ice cream socials and the Charley Melvin Mad Bomber Run For Your Life.
Ford came up with the idea of people running away from crime or the bad guy. He approached Thrive Allen County about the idea of a 5K run.
“I knew they had a health focus and we wanted to team up with them,” he said. “Three of our Crime Stoppers members are on the Melvin planning committee.”
Half of the Mad Bomber Run proceeds go to Thrive while the other half goes to Crime Stoppers.
“Before the run we had to do a lot of chicken and noodle dinners,” Strickler said.
When a tip comes in the Crime Stoppers must vote on how much money to allot for the tip.
A student version of Crime Stoppers, Scholastics, also has been beneficial. The students at the high school and middle school also raise their own money for tips.
There was once a drug arrest at the school and the Scholastics group decided to give the tip $100.
“We decided to put another $100 on it for them,” Ford said.
Crime Stoppers does not accept money to solve a particular crime. They are a 501(c)3 organization, however, and do accept donations.
If anyone is interested in joining Crime Stoppers the meetings are at 5:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month at Iola City Hall.
“We are really interested in someone joining from Moran or Carlyle,” Ford said. “We do have one person from Humboldt but we want the whole county to be represented in this.”