POST-COLUMBINE PROGRAM GIVES REWARDS FOR TIPS FROM STUDENTS

Students in 21 Houston-area school districts can receive rewards of $50 to
$5,000 for tipping law enforcement officials on school crimes ranging from
weapons to vandalism.

A community organization, Crime Stoppers Houston, developed the Safe
Schools program, whose cornerstone is a hotline that allows students to
give anonymous tips on possible crimes to representatives, who forward
information to authorities. If the information proves valid, callers
receive a reward whose size depends upon the severity of the crime. Every
committee convened after Columbine, including one local study, seemed to
recommend the use of a hotline, said Kim Ogg, Crime Stoppers' executive
director. Our board seized on that common thread and prioritized the program.

After Jan. 1, Crime Stoppers will make available to schools across the
nation its Safe Schools kit, which includes guidelines for implementation
and software.

Since 1997, officials say, tips received on the hotline have played a role
in solving 106 school crimes, ranging from weapons violations confiscation
to vandalism. Most of those incidents involved the interception of drugs.
Crime Stoppers has paid more than $17,000 in rewards to callers during that
period.

Some have questioned the method of paying students _ some as young as 11 _
money for information. Ogg defends the rewards.

Crime Stoppers has been paying cash to adults since 1981, and there has
been no retaliation, Ogg said. The idea was that kids had a new interest in
protecting themselves, and we figured if we could assure them anonymity and
rewards, they would help us. The program's primary targets are weapons and
drugs on campus. Callers whose information leads to a gun being confiscated
from a student receive a $1,000 award. Students who turn in found guns
receive $300. Three hundred dollars to get a gun out of a school? Ogg said.
I'd say that is a check anybody is willing to write. Safe Schools has been
credited with preventing crimes such as gang fights and securing arrests in
cases such as one in the Tomball Independent School District. In the
2000-2001 school year, a Tomball student was arrested after officials found
a list of students and teachers to kill, according to Crime Stoppers.

The Safe Schools program has been helpful to educators in the Deer Park
Independent School District, said Don Dean, an assistant superintendent.

The fact that students can report concerns anonymously allows them to feel
safe and share information they truly want to share, Dean said. Tips we
have received have lead us to solve problems and seize contraband.

Educators also praised Safe Schools for its low-cost, low-maintenance
demands. It doesn't cost anything other than a little time for training,
said Rick Berry, superintendent of the Cypress-Fairbanks school district.
It is not a panacea, but it is inexpensive and the type of tool that is
valuable to us.