Published: November 03, 2009 11:32 pm      

Crime Solvers chief wants citizens to take more aggressive role

Callers who provide tips that lead to arrest eligible for reward

CUMBERLAND — The chirp of a telephone makes Lou Femi’s day.

It’s not necessarily retirement that’s allowing Femi, a retired Frostburg State University police officer, to enjoy a simple pleasure or preferred sound. The president of Allegany & Mineral Counties Crime Solvers wants to hear the phone ring more often. If that happens, the community is a little safer, Femi said.

“I’d like to see that number ring off the hook,” Femi said of (301) 722-4300, the direct hot line to the Crime Solvers organization. A toll-free number, (877) 722-4307, is available for the convenience of long-distance callers. “I’d like to have the community more aware of what’s going on around them and (be) able to use that number as a tool to get law enforcement the information they need,” Femi said.

Crime Solvers has been in Allegany County since 1981 and a few years ago merged with efforts in Mineral County, W.Va. Since 2007, a dedicated phone line has been operating at the Allegany County Joint Communications Center. Information obtained by dispatchers is sent to Maryland State Police Cpl. Kevin Detrick, who serves as information coordinator between the nonprofit organization and area law enforcement agencies.

Phone calls, Femi said, help him and fellow board members feel their efforts are worthwhile. A phone call to Crime Solvers with the right information could be worth the time for the informant — not only in safer neighborhoods, but also cash in their pockets. The organization’s executive board determines the value of each tip received and pays a reward ranging between $100 and $1,500 for information leading to an arrest. Sometimes, other groups want to add to a reward for information being sought.

Once a reward amount has been determined, the informant still remains anonymous, even through the payoff process. When a caller phones in to Crime Solvers, he is assigned a number and told to remember it. The caller then is told to call back in a few weeks or check the Times-News, where alerts seeking a caller with an assigned number prompt him to call again.

“We don’t ask for a name,” Femi said.

Femi said an executive board member — often himself — arranges a point to meet the caller. Once verification of the caller is made through security questions, the caller walks away with cash in hand.

The time between a phone call with a solid tip and an arrest can vary. In August, police sought information through Crime Solvers on the whereabouts of Paul L. Rice Sr., who had been sentenced to serve eight years in prison for a defrauding scheme but failed to report for his sentence at the Allegany County Detention Center.

With aid from information received by an informant through Crime Solvers, Rice, of Cumberland, was apprehended in Hampshire County, W.Va., last month.

Femi said outreach efforts to the community are continuing with an improved working relationship with the Allegany County Board of Education.

The board has agreed to maintain the Crime Solvers Web site, www.allegany-mineralcountycrimesolvers.com, and criminal justice students at the Center for Career and Technical Education on U.S. Route 220 help post videos of a high-interest cases online.

Posters soon might be seen around school campuses, Femi said.

“We want an open line of communication,” Femi said. “If students are aware of crime actually occurring ... they can give us a call or have their parents give us a call.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.