New state law to provide cash for Crime Stoppers

The law takes effect April 5.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The reward-driven Crime Stoppers has been virtually nonexistent in The Vindicator or on television the past two years for one reason: It's been virtually broke.
"We were going to disband but now we're hoping this new law will breathe life back into the program," said Youngstown Detective Sgt. Rick Alli, Crime Stoppers coordinator. "We go to Columbus on Feb. 26 to discuss how it will work."
House Bill 49, introduced by state Rep. Jim Hughes of Columbus, R-22nd, and signed into law by Gov. Bob Taft last month, requires that $1 be added to court costs and given to reward programs such as Crime Stoppers.
Hughes said Thursday that the fee applies to all court cases -- municipal, county and common pleas -- except traffic.
The law takes effect April 5.
Hughes, a former city and assistant county prosecutor, said he knows the value of offering rewards for tips to solve crimes. He said he conceived the bill as an interesting way to raise reward money.
The Greater Youngstown Crime Stoppers was formed Feb. 4, 1986. As of Oct. 4, 2001, it had paid out $289,800 in rewards.
Over the years, tipsters have typically been paid $50 to $250, Alli said. The program offers up to $1,000.
Funding woes
Alli said that for roughly two years, Crime Stoppers has been hobbling along with a little money made at fund-raisers and generally only featured bad guys in The Vindicator or on TV when a victim's family offered a reward.
Alli said there have also been a few times when Crime Stoppers featured fugitives wanted by the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, which would pay the reward.
He said the last infusion of a sizable amount of money -- $20,000 -- came from James A. Philomena in 1996, his last year in office as Mahoning County prosecutor. After that, for several years, Crime Stoppers approached Prosecutor Paul J. Gains for money but eventually gave up, Alli said.
"He said he didn't have any money," Alli said.
The prosecutor was asked Thursday why some money from his Furtherance of Justice account or Law Enforcement Trust Fund (primarily forfeitures in drug cases) wasn't given to Crime Stoppers during the past seven years.
Each year, Gains receives an amount equal to half his salary for his FOJ fund. His current salary is $102,290.
Gains said he had moving expenses last year and had to buy furniture and computers, which depleted the FOJ account to around $129, and he's not sure if FOJ funds can be used for Crime Stoppers.
He said he could probably use money from the LET Fund, but with the on-again, off-again half-percent sales tax, he also used it to buy equipment for the prosecutor's office so he wouldn't have to go into the general fund.
Gains said he thinks it's a great idea to add $1 to court costs to help pay for Crime Stoppers rewards. He said with the county in dire financial straits, Crime Stoppers was just a luxury he couldn't afford.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;