In October 2014, San Jacinto and Liberty counties merged with the Montgomery County Crime Stoppers program. The San Jacinto County Commissioner’s court approved the merger, and as a result, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s office appointed a local coordinator to represent their county. In the past few months, San Jacinto County has been attending the Crime Stopper functions and learning the system.
There are many benefits to the counties merging. For instance, training programs for two officers from San Jacinto County have already been awarded as part of a grant offered by Montgomery County Crime Stoppers. This training could help San Jacinto County start a Dare program essential to educating children about the dangers of drug use. Other grants may become available in 2015 for additional programs.
Montgomery County Crime Stoppers has a well-maintained website that allows the community to learn about certain crimes that have occurred in the area and felons that they are currently looking for. The tips line has a civilian operator available to answer calls all day, 7 days a week.
Montgomery County Crime Stoppers is also very active in marketing and fund-raising. The fund-rasiers help support the program as there are no tax dollars used to fund Crime Stoppers. This program’s infrastructure is already in place and includes an excellent board member team that has reached out to both Liberty and San Jacinto Counties to welcome and include them.
Montgomery County’s coordinator, Deputy Steven Squier, is knowledgeable about the program and has been working daily to assist in efforts to merge the counties. The inclusion of the counties into a well-established program has allowed San Jacinto County to reap tremendous benefits with minimal effort.
Sheriff Greg Capers believes that reaching out to citizens is essential in bringing communities together to fight against crime. His goal is to provide a more proficient and professional law enforcement environment that can maximize the agency’s effectiveness. Sheriff Capers fully understands the benefits to having an organization like Montgomery County Crime Stoppers to assist his law enforcement agencies in doing their job. He is determined to support the partnership created by Liberty, San Jacinto and Montgomery Counties merging as one Crime Stoppers organization.
We now need for our citizens to put the program to work. Rewards are waiting for those who can offer helpful information. Visit our website at
http://www.montgomerycountycrimestoppers.org/. If you know of the location of a wanted individual, or any information on a crime that has occurred in our county please call 1-800-392-STOP (7867). We pay cash for tips and your identity will be kept completely anonymous.
Sergeant Neil Adams, Crime Stoppers Coordinator San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office
