SCHOOL INFORMANT PROJECT RUNS INTO OBJECTIONS

* A Southeast Portland neighborhood association wants to keep the Campus
Crime Stoppers out of the city's schools

Members of a Portland neighborhood group are objecting to a citywide program
in the schools that encourages students to turn in their peers in exchange
for money.

The Brooklyn Action Corps, a neighborhood association in Southeast Portland,
is checking into Campus Crime Stoppers, recently introduced to Portland
schools, to determine whether to ask the school board to keep the program
out of schools.

"It scares a lot of people," said John Mathiesen, a member of the
association. At a recent meeting attended by parents, teachers and others in
the neighborhood, nobody was in favor of the program, Mathiesen said.

The program, already in schools around the nation, pays students as much as
$1,000 for anonymous tips to police about crime in and around city schools.

Mathiesen said he will report back to the association at its next meeting
April 14.

"We'll still try to ask the school board to rescind the policy, provided the
neighborhood association agrees with that," Mathiesen said.

Off-campus activities

The program also encourages youths to report criminal activity by their
peers, such as underage drinking and drug possession, even if it happened
after school.

A goal to get the program in all of the city's middle and high schools is
close to completion, according to Sgt. Larry Linn, who oversees the program
for the Portland school police.

The program received the blessing of Mayor Vera Katz and several school
superintendents, including Ben Canada, when it was unveiled in January.

It is paid for by private donations.

The program, which is also in the Parkrose and David Douglas school
districts, gives out one telephone number -- 916-3222 -- for students to use
to report crime anonymously.

Mathiesen pointed to a recent situation involving his son, an eighth-grader
at Sellwood Middle School. He said his son and a classmate were falsely
accused by another student of marijuana possession.

"As soon as my son knew someone had snitched on him he knew immediately who
did it," Mathiesen said.

Mathiesen said he is against youths being paid to provide information to
police, particularly when the tip involves drugs and guns. At the high
school level, where some students are in street gangs and have access to
guns, the potential for retribution is real, he said.

Youths should report students who take weapons to school out of personal
responsibility, Mathiesen said, but any program that pays them to do so
sends the wrong message and has the potential for abuse.

Police and other program proponents say the informant's identity is kept
confidential. When an informant calls, he or she is assigned a number, Linn
said. No names are given, and the calls are not recorded electronically.

"I can only speak for how it has worked," Linn said, "and I've had none of
the people call back and say, 'They found out my name.' "

Linn said the informant checks in with his number to determine if the
information he provided resulted in an arrest or conviction. A citizens
board meets to decide whether to pay informants and how much, to the maximum
$1,000.

A Crime Stoppers representative meets with the informant to hand over the
payment, or the payment is made in some other prearranged manner agreeable
to the informant, Linn said.

Portland Officer Henry Groepper, who oversees Crime Stoppers for the police,
said he can tell within a matter of minutes if someone reporting a crime is
not truthful or if there are ulterior motives.

Contact Michael A.W. Ottey at 503-294-7668, or by e-mail at
michaelottey@news.oregonian.com.