A (501) C Non-Profit Organization
Tri-County
Crime Stoppers
of Minnesota, Inc.
Serving Central Minnesota
P.O. Box 545 St. Cloud, MN 56302-0545
St. Cloud Area and Cellular 2000 customers: 255-1301
Outside St. Cloud: 1-800-255-1301
About Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers Open Cases
for Week of February 23, 2004
St. Joseph Police: Business Burglary and Theft (From week of February 9, 2004)
The St. Joseph
Police Department is investigating a burglary and theft that took place at
the Bee Line Sports Center. The burglary happened during the night and was
reported on Saturday February 7th. Entry was made through the front of the
building and a number of items were taken.
St. Cloud Police: Vehicle Vandalisms
The St. Cloud Police are investigating a rash of vehicle vandalisms that
occurred throughout the city on Friday and Saturday nights, February
21-22. In each case the driver’s side windows were shot out. Every
targeted vehicle was legally parked on the street. Here is a list of some
of the locations:
* 4th Avenue NE.
* 3700 block of St. Germain Street West – two incidents.
* 500 block of 2nd Avenue NE.
* 300 block of 2nd Avenue NE – two incidents.
* 600 block of 6th Avenue South.
* 3300 block of 3rd Street North.
Web
Site Anniversary Report
February 25th, will mark the first anniversary of the Tri-County Crime
Stoppers web site. The response and success of the web site has far
exceeded everyone’s expectations. The farsightedness of Stearns County
Sheriff John Sanner, Benton County Sheriff Jim McMahon, Sherburne County
Sheriff Bruce Anderson, and Stearns County IT Director George McClure in
supporting the creation of the web site has played a vital role in the
overall success of the project.
Cooperation from area law enforcement has contributed to the success of
this project. They have shared “Open Cases” and invited Crime Stoppers to
meet with their officers on a regular basis. A bulletin board for Crime
Stoppers information has been made available in the lobby of the St.
Cloud/Stearns County Law Enforcement Center.
The web site featured 261 crimes in 2003 for an average of 5+ per week.
Crime Stoppers published 23 posters at the request of law enforcement
agencies.
The web site is close to having recorded 115,000 hits for an average of
112 per day. This increased activity has brought about more tips to crime
stoppers and this in turn has resulted in our paying five separate rewards
in 2003 and two already in 2004. Total rewards paid is now at $ 28,705.00.
The web site is also part of the Stearns County Government Document or
“GovDocs” web site. Our site currently has 110 regular subscribers who
receive an e-mail notice whenever something new is posted. We currently
hold the distinction of being the 5th most active “GovDocs” page, right
behind the County Board Agenda page.
During the past year, the number of web pages and their content has
increased. The following pages have been added:
* Crime Prevention tips
* Links to Significant Sites
* Supporter Links page – This involves agencies or companies that link to
our web site and we to theirs.
* Sponsor page
* Special Alerts
* Downloadable Posters
Besides the weekly Open Cases, the Downloadable Posters page is the second
most active. Over 5,000 posters have been downloaded and printed by the
general public. In the past year, six of these posters featured Stearns
County cases and nine involved cases from St. Cloud. This page enables
anyone on the internet the ability to download these posters and make them
immediately available for their employees or general viewing by the
public.
One of the most downloaded posters involved the “Quick Change Scam” that
was occurring at fast food and convenience stores along the I-94 corridor.
That poster was requested by the Chief of Police in Avon and 406 copies
were downloaded. In another case, a call was received from the Sherburne
County Sheriff asking if a poster could be created featuring security
camera photographs of three men who had just robbed a convenience store in
Santiago. Within 20 minutes of receiving the call, the poster was designed
and distributed across the three counties. This became the most sought
after poster with 472 copies being downloaded.
However you look at this project, everyone involved has helped to make our
communities just a little bit safer.
We are a non-profit agency solely dependent upon donations for our funding. Learn more about how you can help us!