OUR VIEW: Justice served, with help from the community

Staff Editorial
Published: September 16, 2008

» SUMMARY: Culpeper Crime Solvers does a great service to the community.

Since January, more than 70 percent of suspects listed in the Culpeper Crime Solvers program have been arrested.

Such success represents a great cooperation between law enforcement and a privately funded program that provides reward money for information leading to an arrest.

Each week, three suspects’ names, photos, descriptions and alleged crimes are published in the Star-Exponent with a phone number for tipsters: 727-0300.

Of the last 104 suspects listed, 74 were arrested — including one who was listed and arrested twice.

Some were wanted for relatively minor crimes, such as failure to appear in court or issuing bad checks. Others were wanted for bigger crimes such as assault and battery, discharging a firearm in public, conspiracy to commit a felony and grand larceny. Still others were wanted for probation violation or because their probation or suspended sentence had been revoked.

In the search for wanted individuals, local police and sheriff’s deputies can’t do it alone. Good law enforcement starts right in your own neighborhood. And criminals know that.

Remember the “Stop Snitchin’” campaign from a couple of years ago? That effort, aimed at silencing informants, started in Baltimore in 2004 and rose to national prominence when many rappers expressed support. Fortunately, cold, hard cash is a better motivator than a trendy T-shirt slogan. As a result, some suspects were brought to justice.