Jonathan Damo of Aiea Intermediate School says he has noticed the difference Student CrimeStoppers has made at his campus. Aiea, Mililani students
lead crime fightBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com"We can depend on CrimeStoppers," the eighth-grader said. "Before, people were asking for money and taking jewelry. Now we can call CrimeStoppers for help. It's good for us. It makes us feel safe."
Providing a safe learning environment is one of the program's goals, and yesterday, CrimeStoppers Honolulu honored students at Aiea Intermediate and Mililani High School for calling in the most tips.
Over the past two school years, Aiea students have called in 92 tips, which helped solve 37 crimes involving drugs, weapons, sex assault, gambling and more, said HPD Detective Letha DeCaires, coordinator of CrimeStoppers Honolulu.
Mililani students are credited for calling in tips that helped police solve cases including a Pearl City home invasion last year in which a man was shot.
"You people are good citizens," DeCaires told the Mililani students at a homecoming assembly. "We're here to honor you because you care about safety ... because you call in to make your school safe -- no stealing, no cheating, no drugs, no smoking," she said to cheers and applause.
The Student CrimeStoppers program started with five schools in 1997 but really took off after the 1999 Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, which underscored the need for creating safe schools, said Ray Higa, CrimeStoppers board member.
Last school year, almost 200 tips were called in from the 50 participating middle and high schools. Students at Aiea Intermediate accounted for 25 percent of those calls.
"I would like to see every school have something like this," Higa said. "It's successful because they have a way to call in any unsafe activity, and they don't have to worry about 'Somebody's going to give me lickings if I say something.'"
Mike Weiss, safety resource officer at Mililani High, said he gets hundreds of tips involving stolen computers and kids selling drugs, smoking in bathrooms and stealing wallets.
"Students know what's going on. They all know somebody who knows somebody who talked about (an offense)," he said.
Callers that provide tips leading to the solving of a case on campus are eligible for a cash reward of up to $100, but that is not the motivation, Weiss said.
"It's hardly ever collected."
Freshman Shaunte Guerrero said posters on campus announce crimes and ask for students to call in.
"It's helpful," she said. "Knowing we can turn to somebody, knowing it's anonymous, that it's not something bad if we're telling on our friends. We're helping them and saving lives."
Higa said all tips are investigated. To reach CrimeStoppers, call 955-8300 or *CRIME on cellular phones.