Additonal Statements

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, as co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, I call to the attention of my colleagues an effective public-private partnership that was pioneered by the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers.

This partnership, which empowers citizens to assist law enforcement on behalf of public safety, has been a model for the Nation, and beyond.

Crime Stoppers is separate from the police emergency phone system or other standard methods of contacting police, as it allows a member of the community to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. In 1982, the Kansas City Crime Commission launched a hotline for anonymous tips--Crime Stoppers. That first year, 30 tips came in, clearing 8 cases.

Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers emerged as a top program, earning global recognition. In 1999, Sergeant Craig Sarver of the Kansas City Police Department was named International--Crime Stoppers--Coordinator of the Year.

An innovator, Sergeant Sarver nurtured an idea that has evolved into a common tool for law enforcement.

In the summer of 2002, 19-year-old Ali Kemp was murdered in the pump house at a community swimming pool near Kansas City. Her father, Roger Kemp, suggested to police and the local office of Lamar Advertising Company that billboards could help find the killer.

Eventually, a tip generated by donated billboards helped resolve this case. A suspect was arrested in Connecticut, tried, and convicted.

Since then, ``wanted'' billboards have led to arrests in more than 20 murder cases in the Kansas City area. Sarver, who retired in 2008 after 33 years on the force, cites two reasons why billboards help generate solid tips for police.

First, he says, is the frequency of the message. Tipsters have said they had seen ``wanted'' billboards multiple times before they shared tips. Second is the emphasis on anonymity, important to those who fear retribution, according to Sergeant Sarver.

Now this tactic--to feature a tip line number on billboards along with a suspect's photo--is a common tool for law enforcement. In 2007 in Philadelphia, the FBI starting using donated electronic ``digital'' billboards to help find fugitives. The FBI calls these high-tech signs ``force multipliers.'' Tips generated by digital billboards have resolved 53 FBI cases.

State and local police also rely on billboards to communicate with the public. After two inmates escaped prison in upstate New York in early June, New York State Police activated 50 digital billboards in four states.

Near St. Louis, a motorist opened fire on an Illinois State trooper during a traffic stop on June 23. The trooper was not injured, but the shooter fled. In southern Illinois, the District 11 State Police office is located near Mid America Outdoor Advertising in Collinsville, IL. Shortly after police asked Mid America for help, the suspect's photo appeared on a digital billboard along a high-traffic interstate en route to St. Louis. The suspect was arrested by the end of the week.

In Elyria, OH, the sheriff says 12 fugitives have been arrested thanks to tips prompted by digital billboards. Lorain County Sheriff Phil R. Stammitti describes these long-sought individuals as ``very hard to locate.''

Neil Mahan, the retired police chief from Janesville, WI, says billboards help police apprehend suspected criminals and deliver other information to the public. ``For example,'' he wrote in The Police Chief magazine, ``an elderly female suffering from Alzheimer's disease wandered away from family at a local shopping mall and was found by a citizen using the digital billboard information. When spring floods along the Rock River posed significant danger to the public, billboards were used to post warnings about the danger.''

In conclusion, we know that public safety is enhanced when citizens are empowered to help law enforcement. I commend the Kansas City Crime Commission and Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers for their contributions in advancing a new communications tool that aides the cause of safety.

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