LISD Campus Crime Stoppers celebrates 20th Anniversary
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 1, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Roberto Treviño,
The Laredo Independent School District Campus Crime Stoppers is celebrating its 20th anniversary this academic school year. Campus Crime Stoppers was officially formed at LISD on Sept. 1, 1991, at Cigarroa High School with Felipe Jimenez as the sponsor.
Since its inception all LISD middle and high school have added the Crime Stoppers program. Jimenez became the first district coordinator. In 1995-1996, Estela Quintanilla was selected as coordinator and the elementary schools were added to the secondary sponsor’s duties.
“The program has grown to become one of the best not only in Texas but also at the international level in their school population category,” said Estella Quintanilla, Campus Crime Stoppers District Coordinator. “The program has won 77 awards in competition around the world including Best Radio and Television Public Service Announcements, the first ever Campus Crime Stoppers Program of the Year Award, Best News Story, and Best Website of the Year in Texas for the last two years.”
Currently, there are nine secondary school sponsors who answer their Hotline phones from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and a district coordinator who answers the phone 24 hours a day. The Crime Stoppers Sponsors are Sandra Rocha at Martin High, Richard Tellez at Cigarroa High, Nora Villarreal at Nixon High, Raul Rodriguez at Lara Academy, David Blumberg at VMT, Michael Boswell at Christen Middle, Delia Salinas at Cigarroa Middle, Anacesilia Gaytan at Lamar Middle and Anel Talley at Memorial Middle.
“This program truly reflects that it takes a village to raise a child,” said Quintanilla. “The program offers rewards for anonymous calls, text message, or website tips that solve or prevent a crime on or off campus by LISD students.”
The rewards are paid through funding from the City of Laredo Third Party Funding Grants, Probation Fees from the local courts and donations from the Webb County Sheriff’s Office. The ConocoPhillips Philanthropic Committee has also made donations for the last three years to pay for rewards, the ten Hotline phones, and jackets for the participants of the Campus Crime Stoppers Conference. The Texas Criminal Justice Division Crime Stoppers Assistance Fund Grant provides $10,000 for the mandatory Campus Crime Stoppers Conference to train student board of directors from each secondary school.
The Laredo ISD Campus Crime Stoppers statistics speak for themselves. Since its inception, 1,164 tips have been received, 4,164 cases have been cleared, and $138,630 in rewards have been paid. Over $251,000 in stolen property has been recovered. Drugs with a street value of $38,532 have been seized.
