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Crimestoppers Asks: Street Justice?

Posted by: WDSU-TV on February 14, 2007 at 9:32PM EST

Crimestoppers offers citizens a safe vehicle to report crime anonymously.

Yet, we are saddened when we hear victims' families talk about letting street justice, not law enforcement, handle their loved one's crime.

What can we do to break this cycle? What can we do to help families understand Crimestoppers can help?

Darlene Cusanza

Executive Director

Crimestoppers

(3) Comments

Posted by: John S on February 23, 2007 6:09PM EST

First off, Crimestoppers has to reach the public at large. TV, radio, printed media, outdoor advertising, and other avenues should all be utilized. Advertisement shouldn't be arbitrarily distributed, however. One has to understand the demographic of the people who most need the Crimestoppers information and target media outlets those people are most likely to access throughout the course of a day. If you find that crime is very heavy in neighborhood X, and with research you find that many people in X listen to radio station Y, then advertising needs to target station Y during peak listening hours.

Unfortunately advertising is only the vehicle. It is also necessary to have the families mentioned in the blog understand why the legal system is a better alternative than street justice. First off, there is no faith in the justice system for some people. They believe (and rightly so) that the chances of a person who harms or kills a family member will never get convicted and will be on the streets again after a short stint in custody. If they have no faith in our legal system to protect them, what other choice to they have than to rely on street justice? The other half of the problem is that many victims' families are not looking for justice; they're looking for vindication.

So, in addition to informing the targeted public about access to Crimestoppers, it's necessary to educate and inform the targeted public that the justice system is a better alternative to street justice. We have to have them understand why it's a better choice so that they have a reason to make the phone call and place their trust in the legal system. We can't just give them the phone number and cross our fingers. We have to give them good reason to call it as well. Sadly I don't think monetary rewards are enough. These people are looking to assuage anger and guilt. They need a reason to believe that the justice system can give them that, and quickly.

Posted by: Joe S on February 23, 2007 6:27PM EST

Yes, Sheriff Lee's Idea Is Excellent. Being proactive is better than being reactive.

Posted by: David Peffer on April 20, 2007 6:36PM EST

To explain that our justice system works would emply that the police & sheriff departments work as they were designed. The Mandeville murders could have been prevented if the sheriff dept. acted on the arest warrent that was issued at noon. The sheriff dept knew were Adreian Mcgee worked and had this area staked out, but why not go the extra step knowing that this man was extremly dangerous, the sheriff or police dept could of watched out for them as the left and followed her and they would have found James Mcgee and would have been able to serve their arest warrent instead of work one of the most horrific murders in Mandeville and the entire northshore. Driving on Hwy 190 around the day it is common to see sheriff cars setting in the median watching out for traffic violations, why could we not use one of them to protect the inocent and serve arest warrents to the bad. Is this the way our justice system is supposed to work? Why can we not start assuring people that the officials will protect them instead of setting on a hwy watching traffic sence we do have State police to watch our Hwys.