Up in Arms Over Crime

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Helping the police with information, but not with physical force, is precisely the kind of cooperation law-enforcement officials most commend in citizens. One of the most successful techniques is the variously called Crime Stoppers or Silent Witness programs, in which TV and radio stations, as well as some newspapers, provide details on

egregious local crimes and ask viewers and readers for information that might lead to arrests. Participants are offered small rewards, guaranteed anonymity and are under no obligation to testify. One such program in Savannah features rewards of up to $2,500 and police awards banquets at which some 400 citizens a year are honored for their aid. "Over half the people who call in aren't interested in the reward," says Savannah Police Chief David Gellatly. "They just want the s.o.b. to go to jail."

In Houston, more than 200 callers a day respond to Crime Stoppers broadcasts. Fifteen police officers are assigned to follow up the citizen leads. Since the program started in 1981, 3,300 suspects have been arrested for more than 4,000 crimes. Police have seized nearly $56 million worth of narcotics and recovered stolen property valued at about $21 million as well as 802 cars.

In neighborhood patrol programs, residents roam their communities during high-crime periods, keeping an eye on strangers, watching rowdy youths, noting open doors or windows. They often keep in touch by citizens-band radio and report suspicious circumstances to police. Such groups, says Houston Police Sergeant J.C. Mosier, "are making a serious dent in crime. This pendulum of not wanting to get involved is swinging back."

Rather than chase would-be criminals, these citizen crime watchers are expected to let trained officers handle the rough stuff. Nonetheless, when Jerry Hester, a Hughes Tool Co. executive, heard four shots ring out while on patrol in his East Houston neighborhood on March 3, he could not resist the impulse to take action, however dangerous. As he radioed his base station --Hester's handle was "Stringbean," the base was "Country Cousin"--a white Chevrolet Monza with three occupants sped past him. He followed at high speed. Country Cousin, actually Howard Petty, 61, security director for the Eastwood Civic Association, relayed the information to a deputy constable hired by the association on weekends. The deputy intercepted the fleeing Monza and took the occupants at gunpoint to a nearby bar, where a customer lay dying from a gunshot wound. Other patrons identified one of the trio as the assailant.

Hester says that he has made enemies in the neighborhood because of the patrol's vigilance and has even had rocks thrown into his car. "But I have two daughters," he says, "and I feel that I'm making my neighborhood safe for my family."