News-Miner Editorial
A worthy effort
Woman earned consideration for reward
Published Thursday, May 8, 2008
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Stumble It!The story gets better and better.
A college student, her family and friends and a security team at a local supermarket team up to help police corral a couple on a thieving crime spree that stretched from Anchorage to Fairbanks. A reward offered through an Anchorage Crime Stoppers program is denied, but now members of the Fairbanks Crime Stoppers group are going to see what they can do.
Whether they decide their rules allow them to give a $1,000 reward to the student or not, Fairbanks Crime Stoppers gets a big thumbs up for at least considering whether she is eligible.
The story began last week, after University of Alaska Fairbanks student Amanda Mortensen’s purse, laptop and iPod were stolen from her car. A credit card company tip led her to Fred Meyer where the security team identified the pair. Then Mortensen, along with her friends and family, scoured Fairbanks looking for the suspects.
What she provided police was a lot more than an anonymous tip, and she likely saved others in the community from a similar fate. Perhaps other stolen items will be recovered as well. She’s more than earned the reward.
And the story is worth repeating because, again, it is a great example of what residents can do to assist law enforcement officials and help our tax dollars (and our police and troopers) work for us.
If we’re a community that hesitates to put tax money where our mouths are, then the next best thing is putting in volunteerism and action.
When we last commented on this case, we pointed out the value of programs like Neighborhood Watch and Volunteers in Policing. Crime Stoppers is another nonprofit, citizen action group that helps with law enforcement and makes our community a safer place.
First in Fairbanks in 1980, Crime Stoppers allows callers to remain anonymous if they wish and offers rewards of up to $1,000 for legitimate tips. The program is operated by a volunteer board of directors — which happens to be looking for new members at the moment.
So it’s a story that offers inspiration to those who would take the steps to help themselves, safely and with the help of police. It illustrates the potential of programs like Neighborhood Watch and Volunteers in Policing. And it brings our attention to another local group that helps with enforcement and is looking for volunteer board members, Crime Stoppers.
It gets better all the time.
The local number for information on Crime Stoppers is 456-CLUE. If you’re interested in signing up to volunteer, you should try to call during regular business hours.
Community Discussion
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Some would say that this shows the need for more police. I say that this shows that we can get more done by taking personal responsibility. What do you think?
i agree fairbanksgas. thanks amanda. great job! you probably saved a lot of people a lot of grief and money.
I loved the comment: "If we’re a community that hesitates to put tax money where our mouths are, then the next best thing is putting in volunteerism and action."
This could be so true in many cases, crime stoppers being a prime example. However, who is going to volunteer to provide residential substance abuse treatment? Suicide prevention? Child abuse prevention? Domestic violence prevention? The reality is, these issues aren't feel good issues that people generally want to volunteer to do.
That's where another avenue of community responsibility comes into play: Supporting your community through accountability.
With the increase in fuel costs, groceries and childcare, my modest lifestyle doesn't leave much room for tax increases. But if it comes down to living in a safer, healthier community, I can reduce my spending and feed my child ... I was going to say more beans and rice, but it would appear that rice is no longer an option. So perhaps what I need to do is demand government spending & policymaking accountability. Actually, I like that idea better!
If we could only find an effective way to curb drinking & driving our police force might have more time for other things.
I agree sherry29 that alcohol related incidents are consuming WAY too much time. As someone who has both lost several friends to fatalities involving alcohol and also someone who thinks that indivuals should be held accountable for their behavior but it seems that many people choose not to make the right decision. Life is full of choices and if you make the wrong one then be prepared to pay the price. I think we need to further stiffen the penalties for drunk driving. Take their vehicles first offense, no questions asked. Mandatory jail time, no suspended sentences. It sickens me everytime I see someone in the police blotter with a .165 or .2 (or better) and it states this is "John Q. Public's 3rd DUI offense in 5yrs" etc.
I also agree with you Rockee, there are many agencies that are in dire need of volunteers. As someone who has been a foster parent in Alaska for 10 years and worked with mentally ill children for the past 6 years (I have a F/T job, 3 kids of my own, countless foster children and own my own buisness- if I can make time anyone can) I can tell you that more people who CAN need to step up to the plate and help. There are a lot of arm chair quarterbacks out there willing to complain about things but so few that put there money where there mouth is.
United we stand, divided we fall. This is our community let's work together and make it all that it can be
What Crimestoppers fails to realize is that their hesitance to follow through on the reward due to a technicality will make others in the future re-think if it is worth their while to even call in.
investigating crimes and pursuing criminals is work and costs money, getting DUI convictions is easy and generates revenue.
SandCrab - When grants pay for Officers to arrest DUI's thats what they do. If it frees up other officers to handle the other calls I say i'm all for it. You make it sound like officers are not doing there jobs and trying to take the easy way out.
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