January CrimeStoppers Minutes

MINUTES FOR JANUARY 14 CRIMESTOPPERS MEETING
Submitted by Karen Rhyne, Secretary Cleveland County CrimeStoppers


The monthly meeting of Crime Stoppers was held on Monday, January 14, 2007 at noon in the Alexander Conference Room.

President Gary Staymate called the meeting to order at 12:11pm.

Those present were: Gary Staymate, Charles McCloud, Karen Rhyne, Shell Byars, Kathryn Larson, Ellis Noell, Mary Accor, Marlene Peeler, Jo Boggs, Tammy Endicott, Sam Richardson, Andy Andrews, Durwin Briscoe, Cherish Wilson, Verna McCluney, Susann Durham, Mike Poage and Cecil Burton.

The minutes were approved as written.

Lt. Tammy Endicott reported that there were more tips in 2007 than was previously stated. The breakdown is as follows: Shelby Police 110, Cleveland County 25, Kings Mountain 10, Gaffney and Spartanburg SC 2, and the Highway Patrol, 1. This brings the total for 2007 to 252! Six additional tips came in before the close of the year. Two callers told where to find two individuals who had outstanding warrants. One was in the city and the other in the county. Another tip lead to the arrest of a subject who took thousands of dollars worth of copper from Duke Power. Other tips involved fraud, 3 robberies (both city and county) and one involved someone on the Top Ten.

Two tips were received this month and there were two payouts of $100 each. The tips involved Chapman and Bookerson. Bookerson was on the Ten Most Wanted.

Durwin Briscoe distributed brochures with applications for the Sheriff's Department Citizen's Academy which will begin in April. He also gave an overview of the program. Personnel from the Sheriff's Department as well as some from outside agencies will be instructing.

Mike Poage of Fox Distributing donated some more signage for Kings Mountain and Boiling Springs.

Andy Andrews expressed he was disappointed that we were not using the tools we have been provided and said he hoped all members would do their part in distributing the stickers. He also added that we needed to have the slogan "Need Cash We Pay" out there everywhere.

Members discussed whether or not we needed set amounts for payouts. Charles McCloud said he felt that we needed to do this, and Gary Staymate suggested that maybe we needed to allow a larger amount for tips involving the elderly, handicapped and those that are gang-related. Sam Richardson mentioned paying more for tips involving crimes against children. Members did not set any specific amounts. Someone suggested that we continue to heed the advice of our law enforcement officers as to how much to pay. In the past, each crime has been dealt with individually, as far as how much reward to pay a tipster. Mike Poage said that if we do decide to set amounts for specific types of crimes, we would need to decide how we would convey this to the public.

Susann Durham suggested we move our meetings around to other cities. This was discussed briefly and will be taken up at a later meeting.

Mike Poage said that we needed to be sending a clear message and discuss creative paths via marketing.

President Gary Staymate adjourned the meeting at 1:05pm.

The next scheduled meeting will be on Presidents Day, February 18, 2008 at noon in the Alexander Conference Room.