Saturday, June 19, 2010

Crime Stoppers - not certified program


Who and what is the Crime Stoppers program in McHenry County?

Many know the basics. It's a tollfree hotline for reporting crime tips.

When I couldn't find a website for the McHenry County Crime Stoppers earlier in the week, I started rooting around for information and came across the Illinois State Crime Stoppers Association. You can view its website at http://www.illinoiscrimestoppers.org/

On that site you'll see that some of the programs are Certified; many are not. You see links to websites of some programs; some links are broken.

For McHenry County? "Stats for Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, McHenry, Woodstock, Cary, Fox River Grove, Marengo, and Harvard Police are reported by McHenry County Coalition." But the McHenry County Coalition of Crime Stopper programs, representing nine law enforcement agencies, but not naming the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, is not a Certified program.

Why don't we have an online crime-tip reporting system, like the Des Plaines Program? Not even all of the sites behind the links are the same. Some contain reporting of recent crimes; some have photos of Most Wanted.

When I am elected Sheriff of McHenry County on November 2, 2010, I'll see that McHenry County develops a modern program and becomes a Certified member of the Crime Stoppers Association. And missing persons in the County will be promptly listed.

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