Tips wanted

Crime Solvers needs public help

If Allegany & Mineral Counties Crime Solvers succeeds in its mission to help local law enforcement, then the community at large benefits. For the success to occur, the public’s help is needed.

“I’d like to see that number (301-722-4300) ring off the hook,” Lou Femi, president of the organization, said in an interview with the Times-News. “I’d like to have the community more aware of what’s going on around them and (be) able to use that number as a tool to get law enforcement the information they need,” Femi said.

The telephone number is the direct hotline to the Crime Solvers organization. A toll-free number, (877) 722-4307, also is available for long-distance callers.

Crime Solvers has been in Allegany County since 1981 and a few years ago merged with efforts in Mineral County, W.Va. Since 2007, a dedicated phone line has been operating at the Allegany County Joint Communications Center. Information obtained by dispatchers is sent to Maryland State Police Cpl. Kevin Detrick, who serves as information coordinator between the nonprofit organization and area law enforcement agencies.

Phone calls, Femi said, help him and fellow board members feel their efforts are worthwhile. A phone call to Crime Solvers with the right information could be worth the time for the informant — not only in safer neighborhoods, but also cash in their pockets. The organization’s executive board determines the value of each tip received and pays a reward ranging between $100 and $1,500 for information leading to an arrest. Sometimes, other groups want to add to a reward for information being sought.

Once a reward amount has been determined, the informant still remains anonymous, even through the payoff process. When a caller phones in to Crime Solvers, he is assigned a number and told to remember it. The caller then is told to call back in a few weeks or check the Times-News, where alerts seeking a caller with an assigned number prompt him to call again.

The board has agreed to maintain the Crime Solvers Web site, www.allegany-mineralcountycrimesolvers.com, and criminal justice students at the Center for Career and Technical Education on U.S. Route 220 help post videos of a high-interest cases online. Posters soon might be seen around school campuses, Femi said.

“We want an open line of communication,” Femi said. “If students are aware of crime actually occurring ... they can give us a call or have their parents give us a call.”