Tech Students Serve On-Call Crime Stoppers

CREST HAVEN –– Sheriff John Callinan attended his last Crime Stoppers semiannual free breakfast at the Technical High School Oct. 30. “I won’t be wearing a badge much longer,” he said with elections less than a week away.
Sheriff’s Department officers, FBI, department chiefs and investigators gathered for a hot breakfast cooked and served by the school’s first-year culinary arts students.
Cape May County Crime Stoppers, an international association, works as a liaison between the public and local law enforcement through an all-hours crime tip line.
“Once a year we unite law enforcement officers, get them together for breakfast, to improve communication between the departments,” Board Director William Plenge said.
He said this year, 38 tip line calls have been received since January and six of those calls have led to an arrest or indictment. Plenge said calls are mostly drug-related.
Anonymous callers report crimes to the tip line and receive a caller number. If the caller’s tip results in an arrest or indictment, they are entitled to a reward, which they receive through their caller number so they remain anonymous.
Reward amounts are determined by the importance of tips. If a tip leads to the arrest of a murderer, for example, a caller can receive up to $1,000, the most the organization can pay.
U.S Marshal Jim Plousis, former county sheriff, said he has authority to match reward amounts to total $2,000 in the case a tipline call is very crucial to an investigation.
“(Crime Stoppers) is critical work for police departments and federal enforcement because 90 percent of crime is solved by citizen involvement. This is really the essence of citizen involvement,” Plousis said.
Volunteer board meetings are held once a month to discuss tips received and potential fund raising. Rewards are mostly funded by donations from Sturdy Savings Bank, Cape Savings Bank, local business, individuals and participation in 4-H Fairs and Lower Cape May Regional High School’s Night Out Against Crime.
“We try to get as many donations as we can since they’re our payouts,” Treasurer Mac McKenna said. “Every little bit helps.”
“Sometimes citizens become indifferent about the function of the organization and, in these hard times, it’s getting more difficult to raise funds. Citizens’ assistance in this helps us greatly because the idea is to stop crime before it happens,” Callinan said.
He said the organization receives an average of 30 calls each year and, with volumes up at 38 calls, he expects 50 total for the year.
There are 12 other Crime Stopper Tiplines in the state. The call center is stationed near the county jail.
First-year culinary arts students hustled preparing omelets, home fries and biscuits for the first breakfast they’ve cooked and served to the public at the school’s American Bounty Café.
“If the students finish quickly they can eat some breakfast before the bell rings,” Instructor David Masterson said.
Call the Crime Stoppers’ Tipline at (609) 465-2800 or toll-free at (877) 465-2801.