THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604100107
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
The Chesapeake Police Department is urging citizens to join the fight against crime by watching the 12th annual Greater Hampton Roads Crime Line Telethon on Saturday.
WVEC-TV, Channel 13, will televise the fundraiser from 8 to 11 p.m.
The special broadcast will show how the Crime Line program works and will feature interviews with some of the victims of crimes solved by Crime Line.
The Crime Line number for Chesapeake is 487-1234.
The telephone line enables a caller to provide anonymous tips or information to the police. If the information helps solve the crime, the caller receives a reward of up to $1,000. Tipsters never have to reveal their names or testify in court. They are paid only after the information provided leads to an arrest.
The telethon will also show how Crime Line has become a significant factor in the solving of crimes in Hampton Roads. The program has a 98 percent success rate at making arrests based on information from Crime Line tips.
More than $27 million in drugs and property have been recovered since the program was started in 1981. Last year nearly 1,500 crimes were solved by the Hampton Roads Crime Line program.
In Chesapeake last year 116 cases were solved through Crime Line help. Rewards of $9,800 were paid for information which was used in the recovery of $76,355 in property and drugs.
Conrad Greif, telethon chairman and a founding member of the Crime Line program, said the goal for this year's telethon is $96,000. The funds go directly to the programs across Hampton Roads and are used to pay rewards. by CNB