Wabash County
Introduction to Crime Stoppers
When a criminal case is not solved within a reasonable length of time the leads diminish, the trail becomes cold, evidence becomes unobtainable, and the crime becomes increasingly more difficult to solve. For these reasons most police departments' files contain many unsolved cases. When this occurs, a method is needed that will re-awaken public interest in the case and also call upon citizens for help in providing the needed information that could lead to the solution of the crime. Citizens may witness all or part of a crime without being aware of what they have seen. Consequently, they may unknowingly possess key information that could aid the police in solving the crime. In some instances, citizens do not contact police with information out of fear that if they reveal their identity they will expose themselves or their families to acts of retaliation by the criminal. In most instances these citizens will not come forward with information unless they can be assured that they will be provided with complete anonymity by the police. Finally, they are uncertain who they should contact in the police organization and what procedures to follow in providing their information. The Crime Stoppers program provides a method of overcoming these obstacles by involving citizens in solving felony crimes. Through the Crime Stoppers program, citizens who have knowledge of a specific crime are encouraged, either for civic or monetary reasons, to come forward and give police this information. The program allows any citizen providing information to remain completely anonymous if they so desire. In this way the citizen is assured that his/her identity will be protected. Crime Stoppers programs need the support of various representatives of the news media such as television, newspaper, and radio to assure that the message reaches the public.
Designed by: Jeff Stahl
Updated by: Anthony Rudolph
Last Modified: November 2nd, 1996
Wabash County Sheriff's Department
Wabash County started a Crime Stoppers program back in the early 1980s. The officer who helps over-sees the program is Sergeant Robert Land, Indiana State Police. Crimes of the week is printed in local newspapers and broadcast over local radio stations. We send him reports that we need help on, and in the hopes that some one will call in tips for us. Of course the tip is only a starting point, we, of course, can't file charges on anyone with just a tip. Once a tip is recieved we then must investigate in the normal ways. When you call Crimestoppers you do not have to give your name, just the information.
Wabash County CrimeStoppers
1-800-237-7867
Links to other sites on the Web
Crime Stoppers International
Fort Wayne CrimeStoppers
South Bend CrimeStoppers
World Wide CrimeStoppers locations
� 1997 [email protected]
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