Analysis of crimestoppers - Research Paper Example

?Analysis of Crimestoppers Crimestoppers is a national program that was begun on a local, regional and national level to fight crime. The program brings together law enforcement, private citizens, the media to find criminals. This program began when a detective in Albuquerque, NM became concerned about the many crimes that were unsolved and that the leads had gone cold. At the time, a young college student was killed and they could not find any other leads about this crime. He realized that there was someone in the community that could help solve the murder of this college student and he knew that people would come forward if they could do it anonymously, they would be paid for a lead that led to solving the crime and the media televised the first “Crime of the Week.” Within 72 hours, three men were arrested who had committed the killing of the college student and they realized this was a good idea; Crimestoppers officially began on September 8, 1976. To date, Crimestoppers has been showed to reach all corners of the world and they have a particular presence in “Nation/Regions of the United States, Canada, Caribbean and Latin America, Europe, Australia, and the South/Western Pacific” (Crimestoppers USA, par. 4). The Crime Triangle the Program Addresses Crimestoppers attempts to address all aspects of the crime triangle. They realize that someone in the community knows when a crime is committed and they know who has committed the crime. They will help law enforcement when they have three issues satisfied: Fear of reprisal An attitude of apathy Reluctance to get involved Crimestoppers is able to resolve these issues by providing each person with a code number that keeps their tip anonymous and by rewarding them with up to $1000 when they supply information that eventually leads to the arrest of the perpetrator (Crimestoppers USA, 2011). By resolving these issues and putting the program in place, law enforcement is able to resolve the three aspects of the triangle: They make the community more aware of the fact that there is someone who has committed a crime, they identify the individual that had the crime committed against them and they show how the opportunity was made to create the crime (Houston Police Department, n.d.). By doing so, the community becomes safer and people are more prone to let law enforcement know where an individual resides who has committed the crime in question. Analysis of Crime Stopper’s Success Crimestoppers states that they have “an average conviction rate of approximately 95% on cases solved by a tip to the program” (Crimestoppers USA, 2011, par. 8). This conviction rate is based on the national average. In order to understand their success more specifically, the information is found in a variety of programs. Hoffman (2010) suggests that the Houston branch of Crimestoppers is “the most effective unit in the nation” (par 1). The Houston branch generally receives about 2500 calls, 500 which are good and those 500 lead to about 50 arrests. In this city people can be paid up to $5000 if their tip lead to an arrest. In 2009, this meant that “825 felons were prosecuted because of Crimestoppers.” (Hoffman, 2010, par. 6). According to Gordon-Gibson (2010) from 1976 to 2010, 829,603 arrests were made, 1,277,325 cases were cleared, US $2,006,059,318 in property was recovered and US $7,869,309,917 worth of drugs were seized. In 2011, these statistics have grown to 893,691 arrests being made worldwide, 1,358,830 cases cleared, $2,151,864,229 worth of property recovered and a total of $8,082,482,485 drugs seized. These statistics show that Crimestoppers has had success over many years in solving crimes with the help of the community and the media. (Crimestoppers International, 2011) Why Crimestoppers Works (Critical Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Program) According to Gordon-Gibson (2010) there are several reasons why Crimestoppers works. Individuals who want to report crimes can do so anonymously so they are not put in the position of confronting the criminal. Because Crimestoppers is spread throughout the nation and internationally, an individual only needs to know the telephone number of a hotline in their area or they can go onto the Crime Stopper website in their area. The individual receives a code number and they never have to give their name or identifying information; this means that police do not know their name and therefore they are doubly protected from reprisal from the criminal. Finally, anyone who wants to report a crime can do so in a way that does not put them in danger. Because of these factors, the police departments in the local and regional areas are assured that someone has the missing piece to the crime and will step forward to help them (Gilbert-Gibson, 2010). Another reason that Crimestoppers works is because there is so much information about them and what they do. The website for Crimestoppers International is engaging and there is a wealth of information on it from all over the world. An individual can find information about the 10 most wanted criminals, but they can also find information about terrorists and about the 10 most wanted by the FBI and by the US Marshals. This information is interesting and appeals to a variety of people who want to assist in fighting crime. Many people across the country want to do what they think is right when they find that someone has committed a crime. Because Crimestoppers offers a reward and they can call in a tip anonymously, this takes the fear of reprisal away, and it changes apathy to action. The individual who has a tip that leads to an arrest receives a reward which makes them feel special because they were able to do something to help someone else. This presents a challenge for criminals also: They have no where to hide. They are out and about in the community and someone will see them whether they are seen committing the crime or they have been seen on television, on a website after the crime has been committed. Another reason this program works is because it is run by the community. They are a nonprofit organization and they are funded by “tax deductible donations from businesses, corporations, individuals, and service organizations”. (Crimestoppers USA, 2011, par. 10). This allows Crimestoppers to stay away form affiliation with government agencies and to be seen as an independent organization that receives funding on a continuous basis. People want to contribute to a program that is successful and that is geared towards making sure that the community is safe. Commentary on How Crimestoppers Impacts Society Factors In the truest sense, Crimestoppers has become a household name. Because of the collaboration between community, law enforcement and the media, people know about Crimestoppers in every city and state. They have heard of the program on a national level and the program, America’s Most Wanted was a show that many people watched. There are a variety of programs on television about crime that include the CSI programs, The Closer, NCIS and others that also bring information to people about the law and criminals. Although these programs are fictional, they show the public the side of crime that they would not otherwise see. These programs allow people to see how a criminal thinks and how they strike out against victims. For some people, these reality-type shows are ones that are entertaining, but they make the average individual want to do something about crime. To add to this discussion, Larson, Lewis, Kay and Kelso (2010) state that law enforcement relies on the community to help them in fighting crime. They suggest that the closer the relationship between the community and law enforcement, the more effective law enforcement can be in that community. In order to establish relationships, law enforcement often uses volunteer citizen patrols in some areas. These patrols are able to do things like assisting with traffic control, helping to search for lost persons, being present in schools to help take care of any problems in school. The programs in schools have shown that with the presence of patrols, there are less crimes committed in schools (Larson, Lewis, Kay and Kelso, 2010). On the other side of this situation Abramsky (2010) points out that many states are enacting programs that can stop recidivism and drug use where possible. These types of programs impact society if they work. As an example, some states are putting the perpetrators to work to repair the community in ways that they destroyed it in the past. This particularly is working with young people who have not committed violent crimes, but who have committed crimes against other people. This type of program can create a valuable citizen who understands that they can make a positive contribution to society. Although many people would think that prison is the only answer for all offenders, many states are finding that they will spend less money over time if they rehabilitate those perpetrators who show the aptitude for rehabilitation (Abramsky, 2010). Gresham, Stockdale and Bartholomew (2003) studied the impact of Crimestoppers in the UK. They found that Crimestoppers played a “significant part in the fight against crime” (p. 9). They also stated that the part that they played outweighed the cost of the program. Prediction Concerning Technological Advances Because Crimestoppers is an international program, the success of technology can be different in different states or regions. Most states have a website that gives basic information about the program. Some of these sites are more elaborate than others and more interesting. Depending on the resources in the area, the website has a lot of information about Crimestoppers, crime in the area and how to stop crime. Generally, the websites are the major use of technology in these areas. Smartphones are a secondary technology that is important to working with law enforcement and the media. Because most people have cell phones, they can call in, but smartphones allow them to interact with the websites or the hotlines easier. It would seem that this program is at the height of its technology and that there would be no other advances that they would need. The program is based on tip lines and the website and it is currently running effectively working with these two technologies. With cellphones the community can quickly call Crimestoppers and they can possible send a text message in some areas. Because the program is anonymous for the community it would seem that any other technological advances would jeopardize anonymity (e.g. video conferencing, or a program that would record name and identifying information). However, there is a new app for Crimestoppers called, TipSubmit Mobile and it gives the informer the ability to send in a text and it is supposed to be anonymous. The tipster can have a two way conversation and submit images at the same time. (Crimestoppers USA, 2011, “The Informer”). This could become difficult because an individual can log-in to the app and see the message and other information. This may cause more challenges over long term use. References Abramsky, S. (2010). is this the end of the war on crime? (Cover story). Nation, 291(1), 11-17. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Crimestoppers USA. (2011). Crimestoppers. Retrieved from http://www.crimestoppersusa.com/profile.html Crimestoppers USA. (2011, April). The Informer. Retrieved from http:// http://www.crimestoppersusa.com/informer/The+Informer+April+2011.pdf Crimestoppers International. (2011). Helping to stop, solve and prevent crime-together. Retrieved from http://www.c-s-i.org/ Gordon-Gibson, M. (2010). Crimestoppers International: Annual Report 2010. Retrieved from http://www.c-s-i.org/sites/default/files/ANNUAL_REPORT_2010.pdf Gresham, P., Stockdale, J. and Bartholomew, I. (2003). Evaluating the impact of Crimestoppers. Retrieved from http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hordsolr/rdsolr2203.pdf Hoffman, G. (03 August 2010). Crimestoppers effective in public safety, apprehension. Northeast News (Houston), Retrieved form http://nenewsroom.com/crime-stoppers- effective-in-public-safety-apprehension-p1865-1.htm Houston Police Department. (n.d.). Crime triangle. Retrieved from http://www.houstontx.gov/police/pdfs/personal_safety-042108.pdf Larson, J., Lewis, V., Kay, K. D., & Kelso, C. (2010). Reducing the cost of crime through reserve police officers and volunteer citizen patrol. Research in Business & Economics Journal, 31-8. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Read More