2004 Texas Best
Coordinator of the Year

Three peace officers were nominated for this year's coordinator of the year award. They are Eddie Diaz, Brian Masterson, and Brian Thomas. The award was presented to Sergeant Diaz from Crime Stoppers of Houston. The award nomination package stated, “His dedication to the crime stoppers' mission of helping investigators solve violent felony crimes and capture dangerous fugitives shines through in his organizational efforts and long-term vision. He prioritizes intelligence and investigative goals by training his officers to go far beyond the simple task of recording an informant's information and passing it on in ‘raw’ form to the case investigator. The result of this leadership style has been a dramatic increase in cases cleared statistics. At the end of March 2002, when he was assigned to the unit, cases cleared averaged 75 per month. From April through the end of December 2002, an average of 88 cases per month were cleared. In 2003, total cases cleared reached an average of 91.9 cases per month. Because of this attention to detail and success rate of the program, case investigators have great respect for the work of the crime stoppers program.”

Board Member of the Year
Eight crime stoppers board members were nominated for Texas Crime Stoppers Board Member of the Year Award. They are Carolyn Boatright, Joyce Ferril, Dean Foley, Walter Meller, Gary Pirtle, Leiv Platou, Ramiro Saucedo, and David Tanner. The award was presented to Ramiro Saucedo, Laredo Crime Stoppers. The award nomination package stated, “Even after 23 years of volunteering for crime stoppers, Ramiro continues to be one of the program's greatest supporters, attending each and every board meeting, volunteering for all fundraisers and participating in all projects. He is currently treasurer of the program for the third term and has served as vice president and president both for two terms.This program's success can frankly be traced to the countless presentation videos, crimes of the week, and public service announcements that Ramiro has produced free of charge. He is the reason that this program has won six awards for the best PSA at the state level and Crime Stoppers International level. It is without a doubt, he continues to make our community a better and safer place because of his dedicated support as a volunteer.”

Ramiro was unable to attend the award ceremony, and Laredo Crime Stoppers representatives accepted his plaque on his behalf.

On May 21, 2004 at the 16th Annual Texas Crime Stoppers Conference in Midland, Texas, the Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council made the following presentations. The awards are made in recognition of outstanding achievement in the categories listed.

Board Member of the Year 2003
Ramiro Saucedo

Coordinator of the Year 2003
Sgt. Eddie Diaz

Innovative Publicity Award 2003
Abilene Crime Stoppers

Newsprint 2003
Best General
Laredo Crime Stoppers

Newsprint 2003
Best Crime of the Week
Waco Crime Stoppers

Radio Competition 2003
Best PSA/Special Production
Wichita Falls Crime Stoppers

Radio Competition 2003
Best Crime of the Week
Lamar County Crime Stoppers

Television Competition 2003
Best Special Production/PSA
Crime Stoppers of El Paso

Television Competition 2003
Best Crime of the Week
Amarillo Crime Stoppers

Best Website 2003
Crime Stoppers of Houston

Productivity Awards 2003

Greatest Dollar Recovery
Population under 25,000
Moore County Crime Stoppers

Most Cases Cleared
Population under 25,000
Burleson County Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery
Population 25,001-50,000
Pharr Crime Stoppers

Most Cases Cleared
Population 25,001-50,000
Lamar County Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery
Population 50,001-100,000
Crime Stoppers of Lufkin

Most Cases Cleared
Population 50,001-100,000
Odessa Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery
Population 100,001-150,000
Wichita Falls Crime Stoppers

Most Cases Cleared
Population 100,001-150,000
Midland Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery/Most Cases Cleared
Population 150,001-200,000
Laredo Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery
Population 200,001-250,000
Amarillo Crime Stoppers

Most Cases Cleared
Population 200,001-250,000
Waco Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery/Most Cases Cleared
Population 500,001-1,000,000
Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers

Greatest Dollar Recovery/Most Cases Cleared
Population over 1,000,000
Crime Stoppers of Houston

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Thank You
Thank you Midland Crime Stoppers for all the hard work associated with the 16th annual conference.

Alyson McInturff, President
Grant Scherzer, Vice President
Bob Koen, Secretary/Treasurer
Kathy Armstrong
Art Donnelly
Alan Holmes
Orman Hubbard
Tom Johnson
Charles Kuss
David Newbold
John Norwood
Judy Norwood
Joe Pulido
Andrea Zabel
Coordinator Sergeant Mike Reed
Staff Angela Wolf

Midland Crime Stoppers
PO Box 1882
Midland, Texas 79702-1882
432-684-9884
http://www.midlandcrimestoppers.com
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Advisory Council Meeting
The Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, May 19 and Friday, May 21, at the Holiday Inn Hotel, 4300 West Wall, Midland. The council approved initial certification for Hillsboro Crime Stoppers.

The council approved continued certification for the following programs: Brazoria County Crime Stoppers, Grand Prairie Crime Commission, Grimes County Crime Stoppers, Harlingen Area Crime Stoppers, Crime Stoppers of Houston, Laredo Crime Stoppers, Crime Stoppers of Midland, Mission Crime Stoppers, Navarro County Crime Stoppers, Odessa Crime Stoppers, Pampa/Gray County Crime Stoppers, Rusk County Crime Stoppers, Somervell County Crime Stoppers, University High School Campus Crime Stoppers, Waco High School Campus Crime Stoppers, Weslaco Crime Stoppers, Brown County Crime Stoppers, Cameron County Sheriff’s Department Crime Stoppers, Deaf Smith County Crime Stoppers, Moore County Crime Stoppers, Reagan County Crime Stoppers, Kingsville Crime Stoppers, Denton County Crime Stoppers, Zapata Crime Stoppers, El Paso Community College Crime Stoppers.
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FAQ’s
Question: What bank accounts should our crime stoppers program have?

Answer: All crime stopper programs that receive court funds must have TWO separate bank accounts. The first account is the program's operating, or general, account. This account contains funds that the program raises itself in the community. When donors give money to the local program specifying the donation be used to pay rewards, then that money should be deposited in the operating, or general, account, with a notation made in the bookkeeping records that it is to be used for reward payments. Or, your program may choose to open a separate donated reward account in which to deposit these funds.

The second bank account is the "restricted account”. Each local program that accepts fees from the court system MUST open a restricted account to house these funds, as mandated by statute (Section 414.010[b], Texas Government Code). Most of the reporting on the Annual Probation Fee and Repayments Report deals with this bank account. These funds are subject to audit, and you must report these annually on the Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council Probation Fee and Repayment Report. Local crime stoppers programs must use these funds to pay rewards; however, each program can take 20 percent of the funds received each year and transfer the money to the operating, or general, account to cover administrative costs of the program.

If you have a campus program and/or funds with additional restrictions, you may need additional accounts. For example, you may have an operations account, restricted/probation fees account, donated reward account, campus account, and a reserve account. You may ask the advice of a banker or accountant to determine what best serves your program.
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Thank You Certified Programs
Thank you for sending in your completed Probation Fee and Repayment Reports. For the first time, we had 100 percent compliance. And thank you to Maggie Hutchins-Wagner and her staff for the excellent job they did with report tracking and analysis.
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Crime Stoppers Manual
The Texas Crime Stoppers Operational Resource Manual is available on the Texas Crime Stoppers Website. The manual includes sample forms for sharing court funds and merging programs along with a lengthy Internet resource list. The manual is located at library.html.
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On-Line Courses
Texas Crime Stoppers will have the Basic Crime Stoppers Course and Basic Campus Crime Stoppers Course on the Internet this fall.
Visit this website to register and become familiar with the online course format:
http://www.texas-poseit.org/DUHome/
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Upcoming Training Events

Basic Campus Crime Stoppers Course
July 12-13, 2004
This is the only time this course is presented during the 2004 fiscal year (September 1, 2003 – August 31, 2004). Course topics include student board selection and responsibilities, operational guidelines, governor’s office, funding, media, public relations, and legal issues.
Omni San Antonio
9821 Colonnade Boulevard
San Antonio, Texas 78230
Phone: 210-691-8888
Fax: 210-691-1128
Ask for the crime stoppers room rate of $80 single or double.
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10th Annual Campus Conference
November 9-11, 2004
Training, recognition, networking, and after-hours fun are conference features. Plan on attending this year’s Texas’ best conference.
Omni Corpus Christi-Bayfront
900 North Shoreline Blvd.
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
Phone: 361-887-1600
Fax: 361-887-6715
Ask for the crime stoppers room rates of $80 single or double, $85 triple, $95 quad

2004 CAMPUS CONFERENCE REMINDERS
Poster Contest
To participate, bring a poster and an 8 1/2 x 11 inch duplicate depicting why a school should have a campus crime stoppers program. Submit the poster at the conference check-in desk. Ensure that submitter’s name and contact information are on the back of the poster and duplicate. Conference attendees vote on poster submissions. Individuals or programs may enter. All entries become the property of Texas Crime Stoppers.

Campus Crime Stoppers Ambassadors
Texas Crime Stoppers is looking for four Texas campus crime stoppers student board members to represent Texas programs. In addition to performing special duties at the 11th annual campus conference, ambassadors will provide input to the planning process for the 11th annual conference at a weekend meeting.

To be considered, submit to mhw@txstate.edu by September 30, 2004, a 100-word essay stating why you would make a great crime stoppers ambassador, along with an endorsement from your sponsor. Eligible candidates must have: an email address that is checked regularly, passing grades under the UIL guidelines, and include a school photograph of themselves. Candidates are required to read their essay to a group of conference attendees.

Traveling Trophy
A panel of judges chooses a campus crime stoppers program from among the conference attendees who demonstrate the best combination of deportment, participation, and teamwork at the conference.

Click here for more training information or to register for a course.
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New Contact Information For Texas Crime Stoppers Training
The email domain address for the Texas Crime Stoppers Training Office has changed to reflect the name change of Southwest Texas State University to Texas State University-San Marcos. Update your address books and contact information.
George Landry, george@txstate.edu
Maggie Hutchins-Wagner, mhw@txstate.edu
Website, http://www.crimestoppers.txstate.edu