Stonewalling by MCSD

Recently I became interested in Crime Stoppers, due to the Beth Bentley case. How does Crime Stoppers really work? There are several Crime Stoppers groups, and my personal experience with the McHenry County tip line escalated my interest in learning more about its operations.

For example, in the Beth Bentley case there are rewards offered by two Crime Stoppers' groups, the Woodstock and the McHenry County groups. As I examined the reward offers more closely, I learned that the rewards are "up to" $1,000 from each group. What does "up to" mean?

I couldn't get answers from the press liaison at the sheriff's department, so on September 16 I emailed Undersheriff Andy Zinke, as follows:

"Will you please let me know the name and telephone number of the person in charge of the McHenry County Coalition of Crime Stoppers?

"And, is the Crime Stoppers tip line, (800) 762-STOP (-7867), answered by dispatchers of the McHenry County Sheriff's Dept.?"

Today is September 26. Perhaps he has been on vacation (no out-of-office response from his email system) or very busy with crimes not yet announced by the sheriff's department. Or maybe he doesn't know the answers. Or can't get the answers. Or perhaps there is another reason, such as "Keep the citizens in the dark" or "Don't answer any emails from Philpott."

As I look at it, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department is there to serve the public. So, why no response?

If they want to play hardball, the game has started. One of the early questions will be:

How is "Crime Stoppers of McHenry County" organized?
Is it registered as an assumed name with the County Clerk?
Is it legally registered with the State of Illinois?
Who are its officers?
What are its funding sources?
What are its expenses?

And what is the McHenry County Coalition of Crime Stoppers? Is it different? How is it different? Registered with an assumed name? Registered with the Illinois Secretary of State?

Who makes the decisions about how much reward is paid for a tip?

It is certainly too bad that information is not provided when requested. The question then gets bigger, such as why isn't the information being provided!