Zoraida Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I am so fumingly mad with Crime Stoppers. We have been living in a very beautiful gated community for almost 22 years now and we know and are friendly with all the family's in our court. This is the type of gated community where we have to punch in a code number to get in. Several months ago a very nice family who lived across from us moved. A new family moved in. The family consists of the mother, the father, and their 19 year old son. The son is attending the university across the street from where we live. Well the mother and father are consistently going out of town on weekends. Wouldn't you know it, when the parents are away on weekends the 19 year old son throws parties for a lot of the university students. This isn't what bugs me. One day I glanced out of my window and saw a green mini van across the street. The son was talking to a man that looked to be in his 50's. I saw the man open the side of his van and take out a red, plastic cup and give it to the son. The son put his hand into the cup and pulled out a bag that had a white powder substance. I realized we had a drug dealer in the neighborhood. I was going to call the police but I went to talk to our neighborhood watch captain first. Our watch captain told me that this might be a one time incident but to alert the other neighbors in our court and to keep a journal of any more activities and to record times of these activities and the license plate number of the green mini van. The watch captain said that when I collected suffecient evidence, I was to mail the journal anonymously to our local crime stoppers unit and than I wouldn't have to be involved with the police. I spent four weekends playing the part of a spy. I wrote down the time of day this person was showing up, I wrote down the license plate number, and I wrote down the descriptions of all the college students who were buying from this person. Well a month and a half went by and we had a big drug bust at the residence across the street. The man in the green mini van was arrested as well as a dozen or so college students. This event made our local news.Also, this drug bust took place last October 2007. Well at 10:00 this morning my doorbell rang and it was our local drug task police. They came and said that the police department were trying to build a case against the drug dealer for a couple of years now and wanted to know if I would be willing to testify in court about everything I had witnessed. Well I was shocked because when I sent my journal off to Crime stoppers I signed it anonymously because I didn't want to be involved with the police. It turns out Crime Stoppers turned the journal over to the drug task people and the drug task people lifted my fingerprints from the journal and envelope. At first I couldn't figure out where they got my fingerprints from but than I realized in the state of Texas you have to give your fingerprints before you can get your drivers license. So don't ever send anything by mail to Crime Stoppers if you don't want to be involved with the police. Also if you call them, use a phone booth because they are probably tracking your phone number. Blessings Zoraida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieAir Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I don't understand why you are upset. Why would you not want to testify? Are you worried that you and your family will not be safe if you do? They're going to need something besides the anonymous journal to present in court. Maybe they didn't get enough evidence in the bust to really nail everyone involved. _______________ Please read my reply below before responding to this post. This one was not worded very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoraida Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 I am not upset about testifying. In fact, I have agreed to do so. I am upset with crime stoppers because crime stoppers was started so that citizens could anonymously provide information about criminal activities in their neighborhood without being directly involved in the investigation process. That is there main philosophy "Be anonymous." If I were living in a poor drug infested neighborhood, I certainly wouldn't want to be pointed out as the fingerman and I would definintly be worried about my safety as well as my family's safety. Blessings Zoraida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSMP Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I can see where that part of it bother's you but you need a big pat on the back for not having the attitude of not wanting to get involved. I am sure it is going to be scary.....but hey....at least you know you have good spying skills. Your kids are safe...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I'm not sure why you didn't just call the police to begin with. I'm glad that you have been such a good neighbor (to the whole neighborhood) and such a good citizen. It sounds like you will be an excellent witness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I don't understand why you are upset. Why would you not want to testify? Are you worried that you and your family will not be safe if you do? You don't think testifying against drug dealers could potentially put someone at risk? I think that's a very naive attitude. They're going to need something besides the anonymous journal to present in court. Maybe they didn't get enough evidence in the bust to real nail everyone involved. The police should have staked out the house on their own and done their own police work that *would* provide enough evidence. They can't invade someone's home on an anonymous tip from a neighbor or we'd all be at risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakitty Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I don't understand why you are upset. Why would you not want to testify? Are you worried that you and your family will not be safe if you do? They're going to need something besides the anonymous journal to present in court. Maybe they didn't get enough evidence in the bust to real nail everyone involved. Than the police should have done a better job at investigating. I could totally understand why someone wouldn't want to testify against DRUG DEALERS! Not to mention the whole anonymity thing...that is a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieAir Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I think some of you have misunderstood my reply to Zoraida's post. I was simply wanting to clarify why she is upset. Her reply answered my question. I didn't know that the idea behind Crime Stoppers was to provide a way for citizens to give anonymous tips. I'm really not familiar with it at all beyond the commercials with (I think) McGruff the Crime Dog, LOL. I was not saying that she should not be concerned for her safety or that it was her job to pick up any slack in the police department's investigation. I just didn't understand the post entirely and wanted to know exactly what it was she was upset about. It felt like I was missing something in my reading of the post. Zoraida, I do commend you for being so vigilant to notice the problem to begin with, for finding out the proper course of action to take, for following through with that action, and for being willing to see it all the way through. I think what you've done is very brave and your community will be safer because of your actions. ____________ And re-reading my original reply, I see now why some might have misunderstood. It was typed quickly with a lot of activity going on in the background and it was not worded very well. Anyway, now you know what I was asking and why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 You don't think testifying against drug dealers could potentially put someone at risk? I think that's a very naive attitude. The police should have staked out the house on their own and done their own police work that *would* provide enough evidence. They can't invade someone's home on an anonymous tip from a neighbor or we'd all be at risk. :iagree::iagree: Jet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I think some of you have misunderstood my reply to Zoraida's post. I was simply wanting to clarify why she is upset. Her reply answered my question. I didn't know that the idea behind Crime Stoppers was to provide a way for citizens to give anonymous tips. I'm really not familiar with it at all beyond the commercials with (I think) McGruff the Crime Dog, LOL. I was not saying that she should not be concerned for her safety or that it was her job to pick up any slack in the police department's investigation. I just didn't understand the post entirely and wanted to know exactly what it was she was upset about. It felt like I was missing something in my reading of the post. Zoraida, I do commend you for being so vigilant to notice the problem to begin with, for finding out the proper course of action to take, for following through with that action, and for being willing to see it all the way through. I think what you've done is very brave and your community will be safer because of your actions. ____________ And re-reading my original reply, I see now why some might have misunderstood. It was typed quickly with a lot of activity going on in the background and it was not worded very well. Anyway, now you know what I was asking and why. I was wondering the same thing and I "get it" now. Thanks for the help! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I think some of you have misunderstood my reply to Zoraida's post. I was simply wanting to clarify why she is upset. Her reply answered my question. I didn't know that the idea behind Crime Stoppers was to provide a way for citizens to give anonymous tips. I'm really not familiar with it at all beyond the commercials with (I think) McGruff the Crime Dog, LOL. I was not saying that she should not be concerned for her safety or that it was her job to pick up any slack in the police department's investigation. I just didn't understand the post entirely and wanted to know exactly what it was she was upset about. It felt like I was missing something in my reading of the post. Zoraida, I do commend you for being so vigilant to notice the problem to begin with, for finding out the proper course of action to take, for following through with that action, and for being willing to see it all the way through. I think what you've done is very brave and your community will be safer because of your actions. ____________ And re-reading my original reply, I see now why some might have misunderstood. It was typed quickly with a lot of activity going on in the background and it was not worded very well. Anyway, now you know what I was asking and why. Thanks for the clarification! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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