January 23, 2006
Thomasville, Georgia-- You can help put wanted criminals behind bars. The Thomasville Police Department just expanded a crime fighting program designed to get crooks off the streets.
Police Officer, Andy Bozeman, spends almost 12 hours a day patrolling Thomasville. "It has always been in my family. it's just something that I have always wanted to do," he says.
Bozeman covers a lot of ground each shift, but he can't cover it all. Now, he's got some backup. "With Crimestoppers, we're able to use people out here no the streets, citizens, as our eyes and ears," says Bozeman.
The new Crimestoppers program puts wanted people's pictures on the TPD's website and in the local paper, a supplement to an existing tip line. "The Thomasville community saw a need to further address serving warrants and making sure wanted people were picked up," says Sgt. Rachelle Denmark.
Less than a week old, Crimestoppers is already putting people behind bars, including felony burglary suspect, Michael Armster. "Statistics show that Crimestoppers programs do lend a lot of arrests," says Denmark.
But not without the community's help. If your tip pans out: "Then the board of directors, they decide whether or not to give a reward," says Denmark.
The reward for officers is getting another criminal off the streets. "We can't be everywhere at once." Especially when current calls are holding.
The Thomasville Crimestoppers hotline is 229-227-3305. There are about 15 wanted people on the list including suspected armed robbers, arsonists, and thieves.
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