CRIME STOPPERS HAS BEEN SUCCESS, SAYS ITS DIRECTOR

In late August, Cape Girardeau police arrested three men in connection with four 1996 burglaries of elderly people's homes.

Police Chief Rick Hetzel recommended that Southeast Missouri Crime Stoppers pay reward money to a number of individuals who provided information that resulted in the arrests of the three.

A payment of $1,000 was made to an informant whose tip led to the arrests of four men accused of shooting an Old Lorimier Cemetery caretaker.

A Crime Stoppers tip also led to the arrest of four people and the breakup of what authorities think was a methamphetamine lab in Burfordville.

Crime Stoppers, the latest tool used to fight crime in the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City area, is working.

Seven months after Crime Stoppers was formed in Cape Girardeau, the group has received 55 hotline calls, and tips have helped solve 11 crimes.

"The program is working," said Kevin A. Govero, a Cape Girardeau businessman who is chairman of the 14-member Crime Stoppers board.

Govero was guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center Friday. Southeast Missouri Crime Stoppers Inc. officers also include Joe Mazza, vice chairman; and Jim Ramage, secretary.

A rash of 1996 home burglaries prompted the formation of Crime Stoppers, which offers rewards when law enforcement agencies need information about hard-to-crack crimes.

It was gratifying to the organization that Crime Stoppers rewards played an important role in the arrests of the three men who were charged in some of the burglaries.

"The local Crime Stoppers group has been active," said Govero. "The organization was officially formed June 1, 1997. Since then we have received funding from a number of fronts, including the United Way, various civic clubs, businesses and individuals."

Govero said more than $2,500 has been paid out the past seven months.

The program was first discussed at the Cape Girardeau Lions Club, which arranged a special program with Rob Wilson, chairman of the Paducah chapter of the national organization as guest speaker. Wilson was blunt: Simply put, the program works, he said.

He cited some impressive statistics:

Since its inception in Paducah 10 years ago, 3,175 tips have been made from anonymous informants, resulting in 890 arrests, 595 of which were for felonies.

Arrests have gone up and crime has gone down in Paducah, Govero told the First Friday coffee crowd. "It has been successful at Paducah, it has been success nationally, and it has been successful in the Cape Girardeau area since it started."

Crime Stoppers offers a reward payment for crimes that ranges from $75 for a class D felony up to $1,000 for a class A felony such as murder or rape.

Arrests come as a result of anonymous information provided by those seeking reward money. Donations are collected through donations and fund-raisers, he said.

Tax-free donations may be sent to Crime Stoppers, P.O. Box 1056, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-1056.

It is easy to call the hotline at 332-0500 with tips. Anonymity is essential to the program's success.

Interest in Cape Girardeau started in December 1996, after 16 burglaries involving elderly people's homes had occurred in Cape Girardeau that year.

Crime Stoppers nationally was formed in 1976 in Albuquerque, N.M., after the murder of a young man, said Govero. A law enforcement officer working with the local media organized a re-enactment of the crime in hopes that someone watching would recognize the incident or the automobile involved. Someone recognized the car used, and when they saw it on television they reported the crime. The car and the killers were identified and prosecuted.

Since then more than 500 cities have joined together to organize local chapters. There are Crime Stoppers programs in every state and in Mexico, England, Scotland and Poland.

News media have joined the Crime Stoppers fight.