Student Crime Stoppers Program Student Crime Stoppers ProgramThe South Bend Area Crime Stoppers program, in conjunction with the South Bend Community School Corporation, began a Student Crime Stoppers Program in November of 1994. In the Spring of 1994 a group of students were brought together to form a "Student Think Tank" in an effort to make their schools more safe. It was part of a new program called "This is my Neighborhood, No Shooting Allowed." The number one suggestion of the "Student Think Tank" was to have a program similar to the Crime Stoppers program in their schools.
The South Bend Area Crime Stoppers program worked with the School Corporation to develop a student program which was similar to the Scholastic Crime Stoppers program developed in Boulder, Colorado by Larry Weida. We felt that some changes could be made in the original concept by not having a board of directors in each school. Since this program was being installed in 4 high schools and 4 middle schools, we felt that a central control of the money, donations and payout would be an easier solution for our program. This would allow all of the students to use our well publicized 288-STOP phone number to call the Crime Stoppers office and leave information anonymously about crimes which had taken place in their school. When the case is solved, the student will receive a cash reward between $25.00 and $50.00. The rewards are paid out of a central fund from a local bank. The funds are raised through the efforts of the School Corporation which is a Not-For-Profit Corporation.
How does it work? When a crime is committed in or around school property, or to someone on school property, and a student has information concerning the crime, the student calls Crime Stoppers and gives them the information. Crime Stoppers will then relay the information to the school and the administrators will conduct the investigation. The police are not sent to the school to investigate unless there is a handgun involved or some other dangerous situation which could lead to injury of a student or teacher. Crime Stoppers gives the student a Student Caller Code number and asks them to call back later. When the crime is solved, and the person who committed the crime is disciplined by the school, or a recovery of stolen property, weapons, or drugs is completed, then a reward between $25.00 and $50.00 will be given to the student caller.
The student will always remain anonymous to the Crime Stoppers program. In some cases, a student will go to a teacher and give them the information regarding an incident in the school. The teacher then takes that information to the principal or the administrator who normally will investigate the incident in the school. If a case is solved, or there is a recovery of stolen property, the student will still receive a reward. However, the student will be known by the administrator because of the way the information was given to the school. The administrator will then call Crime Stoppers and let us know that a student provided them with information which solved a crime, and deserves a reward. The administrator will keep the students name confidential from the Crime Stoppers office. The Crime Stoppers records reflect only the information regarding the incident and the suspect, not the student caller.
The Student Crime Stoppers program has been well accepted in the South Bend Schools, and is branching out to many of the other schools in the 13 county area. LaPorte High School, Sturgis, MI High School, The Bremen Schools, and the South Bend Parochial Schools are all interested. We hope soon to have all of the schools within our 13 county area involved in the Student Crime Stoppers program. We have paid over $2,500 in cash rewards to students who have called and reported concerns in the schools.
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