INTERNATIONAL CRIME STOPPERS OFFICIAL VISITS

In a country where drug and gun trafficking and the weapons crimes
associated with it have disheartened citizens, Crime Stoppers gives
people hope.Devrol Dupigny, general manager of the Crime Stoppers
program in Trinidad and Tobago and 2005 Crime Stoppers International
coordinator of the year, visited the Stateline Area Tuesday to see
some local Crime Stoppers programs.

"I always believe there is room for improvement and you've got to
share experiences, and in the sharing of experiences, there are things
you can take back to improve your situation for your own program,"
Dupigny said.

Crime Stoppers International President Steve Walrath of Beloit, hosted
Dupigny's visit.

Unlike in Beloit, where the Crime Stoppers Coordinator is Beloit
Police Detective Cheryl Williams, Dupigny is not a police officer. He
oversees the administrative side of the program, prepares statistics
for presentations and markets the program's success in bids for more
funding. A police coordinator oversees the call center and ensures all
tips are properly followed up.

In Trinidad and Tobago, which has a population of about 1.3 million,
Dupigny said they average 3,500 tips annually generated from about
5,000. As with all Crime Stoppers programs, tipsters remain anonymous.

Because Trinidad is just north of Venezuela, the country has become a
shipment point for drugs and firearms. Dupigny said there was a large
drug bust in the northern part of the country recently that netted the
equivalent of $1.2 million worth of cocaine.

"There is a lot of drugs and a lot of illegal firearms in circulation
and because of that there has been an increasing amount of guns in
Trinidad and a lot of gun related murders," Dupigny said. "(Year to
date) 240 people have been murdered."

There are also firearm-related offenses such as aggravated robbery,
stolen vehicles, fraud, some people trafficking and in Tobago in
particular, a growing amount of domestic violence. Gang activity is
also a growing phenomenon.

So how does Crime Stoppers help?

"The message which we try to send, is to get illegal guns off the
streets, which has worked to a large extent," Dupigny said.

Over the last two years, Dupigny said the number of police
investigations have at least doubled, showing that Crime Stoppers is
bringing police valuable information.

"Every time the phone rings now it's a 60 percent chance of getting
good information," Dupigny said.

Dupigny winning international recognition for his efforts in Trinidad
and Tobago has resulted in easier renewal of government funding. At
the same time, they changed their television advertising so the way
the program runs is fully explained, and the public has a greater
understanding of Crime Stoppers.

With a shy smile, Dupigny carefully considered his answer before
articulating what the award meant to him. He explained that in his
country, a lot of people have begun to lose hope, feeling that the
criminals are winning the fight; some businessmen have begun to move
their families out of the country.

"But you also hear... that the only thing that seems to be working,"
Dupigny said. "It's fulfilling in that regard to know that you're part
of this organization that is giving some level of hope."

Trinidad and Tobago has had a Crime Stoppers program since 1999. It
was re-launched with a new board in 2002 and has since grown and
gained momentum.

Walrath said it's important for people in Beloit to realize helping
programs in countries like Trinidad helps them because those drugs and
weapons could end up on the shores of the U.S.

"If we support their Crime Stoppers programs, (they) get to catch it
before it moves on," Walrath said. "Crime doesn't see any borders.
When we have those connections, we're actually going to be ahead of
the game for a change."

Williams recently attended the international conference in Calgary
along with Beloit Area Crime Stoppers Board Member Paula Copper.
There, she learned several ways to improve the program, including
upgrading software for better dissemination of tips, and upgrading the
program so that callers can reach a live person 24 hours per day.

Other needed improvements include getting a full-time coordinator and
setting up a payout system with a bank so rewards aren't collected
face to face.

"We need to get with the times," Copper said. "I think we need it, we
really do."

Crime Stoppers International helps local Crime Stoppers Programs "do
what they do better," Walrath said. They are currently working on a
software program called Citizen Observer, that can connect all local
programs via the Internet so alerts could be shared between
communities and countries.