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Maui Crime Stoppers Solves Crimes Through Help From The Public. Rewards For
Information And The Satisfaction Of A Safer Community.

For citizens who are sick and tired of the crimes they see happening, the
Maui Crime Stoppers offers a real chance to get involved.

Maui Crime Stoppers, like America's Most Wanted, depends on community
involvement to help get criminals off the streets. According to the MPD,
Crime Stoppers deals primarily with unsolved felony crimes and fugitives
wanted in felony cases. And the Program really does help bring criminals to
justice.

According to the Maui Crime Stoppers June 2002 monthly report, over 500
cases have been cleared through voluntary information given by the public
since the program's introduction to Maui County in 1981.

This year, Maui Crime Stoppers has already received 144 calls from people
with information concerning various crimes.

In a report to MPD Chief Thomas Phillips, Police Coordinator for the program
Lawrence Anderson said, "Though no advertisements were placed for
information on drug related cases, the number of tips received concerning
drug activity would suggest drugs remain the public's number one concern."

Maui Crime Stoppers data backs up Anderson's statement. In 1999, they
received 81 calls relating to drug activity. The second highest influx of
calls was in regards to wanted persons with a total of 66. Cases regarding
things like assault, arson and missing persons ranked among the lowest with
only two calls each for the year.

This year, $18,350 worth of narcotics has been recovered through the
program. Since 1981 the program has recovered drugs totaling a whopping
$1,058,930.

So, if you have information regarding a crime, why would you want to go
through the trouble of calling Crime Stoppers? Wouldn't this put you at some
sort of risk?

"First of all we do not have caller ID, so we do not know where the call is
coming from. We never take any personal information from the person calling
with a tip. No return numbers, even if they want to leave that information,"
said Anderson. "The first thing that we do is assign them a case number.
From that point on, we refer to them only as that number. In our records, we
do not even record whether it was a male or female caller."

Another perk to the system is that the Maui Crime Stoppers offers a reward
of up to $1,000 for information which leads to the arrest and indictment of
an advertised criminal. So far Maui Crime Stoppers has given out $44,025 in
reward money.

"We've found that a lot of people are not money motivated," said Anderson,
"they just want the problem taken care of. Sometimes people even refuse
reward money."

On the other hand, he said that offering a reward does help to motivate some
people. Many successful captures, especially those concerning stolen
vehicles, were from tips that came from people who were probably working
both sides of the fence. Concerning this, he added, "And we don't mind a
bit, because it's very helpful to us."

So where does this reward money come from?

"We are a non-profit corporation, run by a board of directors, separate from
the police department," said Anderson. "Our emphasis is on fundraising to
continue to give out rewards. 1998 was one of our more successful years. We
gave out $8,000." The biggest fund raiser for the program is their annual
golf tournament.

This year the tournament will be held in October at the Sandalwood golf
course.

"We've implemented a Maui Student Crime Stoppers program in the high-schools
because kids should be able to go to school in a good learning environment."
said Anderson. "They shouldn't have to be worried about their valuables or
personal safety."

The high school program has not received a great amount of calls. Anderson
believes this may be due to peer pressure. The program is still in effect
and will hopefully become more successful. According to Anderson, a Student
Crime Stoppers program in an East Coast high-school recovered 57 guns in its
first year.

Chicken skin? A big high-five for the kids who were brave enough to speak up
for their safety.

"As far as I know," said Anderson, "there have only been two people that we
have been after that were not caught as a result of the program. Crime
Stoppers is so successful in part because we live on an island. If you are
wanted, you have the option to try to run. If you stay on the island and
Crime Stoppers puts your picture in the paper, you may as well turn yourself
in."

If you have important information regarding a crime, please contact Crime
Stoppers immediately at 242-6966.