Crime Stoppers needs to honor reward for Dallas couple who called 911 on wanted fugitive, crime expert says
Expert: Crime Stoppers should honor reward for couple
"If you have one of America's most wanted fugitives, and you fail to call the 1-800-777, whatever number they give you, and instead pick up the phone to call 911, and you are responsible for leading law enforcement to apprehend that person, you should be rewarded as such," one crime expert said.
DALLAS - A criminologist told FOX 4 that Crime Stoppers is making a bad decision by denying a reward to a couple who reported a wanted child predator to the police. Their report is what led to a Most Wanted fugitive's arrest.
Dr. Alex Del Carmen is the associate dean of criminology at Tarleton State University.
"I would say it in non-intellectual terms that this is nonsense," he said.
Del Carmen believes Kenyatta and Briana Jordan should be entitled to the advertised $5,000 Crime Stoppers reward after they bravely called 911 to report seeing a most wanted fugitive, Leonard Neal, at a bus stop.
Featured
Dallas couple who called 911 to report kidnapping suspect not eligible for reward, Crime Stoppers says
After calling 911 and helping police catch the wanted fugitive, the couple later learned about the Crime Stoppers reward. But when they asked about it, they were told they were not eligible because they called 911 instead of the Crime Stoppers number.
"We know in the law enforcement industry that the citizens in the community play a crucial part in being able to report crime as it happens and being able to help us find the bad guys when they're in our communities," he said. "And so I would argue that this has a detrimental effect in terms of perception."
41-year-old Neal was wanted for abducting a 9-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl. He released the boy, but police say he sexually assaulted the girl who was found 12 hours later.
"If you have one of America's most wanted fugitives, and you fail to call the 1-800-777, whatever number they give you, and instead pick up the phone to call 911, and you are responsible for leading law enforcement to apprehend that person, you should be rewarded as such," Del Carmen said.
Del Carmen says he hopes this story can prompt Crime Stoppers to do the right thing to avoid the damage of people losing trust in the organization.
"It is very, very important for the community to be able to understand that they can call any number that is accessible to them," he said. "If Crime Stoppers fails to do the right thing in this case, it is going to have a ramification across the entire United States."
Texas Representative Rhetta Bowers (D-Rowlett) said in a statement, "While the statute that creates Crime Stoppers might suggest that rewards are only paid for specific tips, it also says that the duties of the organization are to foster an environment to reward individuals for detecting and reporting crime. The Jordans acted swiftly to ensure the apprehension of Leonard Neal, and our community should be thanking and rewarding them for their successful efforts."
FOX 4 asked North Texas Crime Commission Chair David Dean if Crime Stoppers would reconsider the reward in this case. He maintained that the rewards are only for people who call the tip line, even though he admitted people should call 911 first.
It raises the question: Shouldn't people whose 911 tips lead to an arrest also be eligible for a reward?