There is a group in Galveston, Texas which has represented itself for years as a Crime Stoppers organization. It once went by the name Galveston Crime Stoppers and did very little, if any, good for residents or law enforcement in the City of Galveston. Then it changed it's name to Galveston County Crime Stoppers, leaving the impression it would be serving the entire county. Keep in mind that other cities in Galveston County have their own Crime Stoppers organizations, some of which are much more active and effective than the so-called Galveston County Crime Stoppers.
We questioned the motives of the name change but never received an answer that was believable knowing the background of the group.
Not many residents even know there is a Galveston Crime Stoppers. Other Crime Stoppers organizations get more tips from Galveston residents about Galveston crime. Probably more than the so-called Galveston Crime Stoppers. Yes, they do have a tip line and one never knows who is going to answer it.
By the way, the main two who head this crime stopper group are it's president and treasurer. A lawyer president and a CPA treasurer. They have been in charge for years and when they do hold board meetings it usually consist only of them and a couple other folks. Board members and a coordinator and secretary come and go, but the two at the top have been there forever.
This crime stopper group continues to receive money from the courts in Galveston County, as do the other Crime Stopper groups. How much they get, and where that money goes is anyone's guess.
There have been complaints recently from tipsters that they didn't get paid for the information they furnished and which they qualified for tip money.
Texas Crime Stoppers, the main organization in Texas which supposedly oversees these other groups recommended at one time that groups should not have lawyers as presidents. This is to prevent a crooked lawyer from building his/her law practice by soliciting people arrested from Crime Stopper tips.
Of course Galveston is known everywhere as the Independent Nation of Galveston and they do everything the way THEY want to and not necessary the decent or legal way. That applies to more than just Crime Stoppers.
To re-enforce this, one only need look at press releases coming from law enforcement agencies in Galveston County. They hardly ever list a Crime Stopper Tip Line to call when they urge residents to provide information in a case. One will see NO Crime Stopper billboards, signs or other advertisement anywhere.
One can only wonder how these things continue to manifest themselves and nothing is ever done about it. There are no investigative news reporters in the county. The investigative reports in Houston have plenty to do there. That pretty much leaves the shady characters in Galveston free to do business as they wish, bilking everyone they can out of everything they can, and leaving their victims under the impression they are performing a grand public service.
Do this bring questions to your mind? Share them with us.
That's The Way I See It! How About You?
Monday, February 23, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Not My Idea Of News Reporting
Tuesday morning there was an apparent home invasion in Galveston in which we learned from area residents 4 men invaded a home, shot the occupants and bound them with duct tape.
We reported the four were 3 Hispanic men and 1 black man. This was reported to us by a reader who lived in the area and also had contact with other residents saying the same thing.
Later the Galveston Police Dept. issued a press release although it did not include some of this information so we included the spin words 'allegedly' and 'reportedly' and so on.
Tuesday evening I saw the story on a couple of the Houston TV stations. Wow! They had helicopters hovering over the neighborhood and a reporter standing in front of the police station reading a prepared press release issued by the police. Duh! They sent a reporter over 60 miles to stand in front of a building and read from a sheet of paper?
Oh! They did get the police chief to make a statement. It last less than 10 seconds in the story. He said, "it appeared to be robbery". It's no secret 99.9% of home invasions are robbery, usually for drugs.
In the end the public learned very little from these TV reports and I cannot imagine how much it cost the station to do that one story. Home invasions like this are a dime-a-dozen in Houston. It must have been a slow news days. The anchor person could have read the story from his/her desk and we would have learned just as much. But of course we wouldn't have seen the police station in background or got to hear the police chief's 10 second alarming statement.
That's the way I see it. How about you?
We reported the four were 3 Hispanic men and 1 black man. This was reported to us by a reader who lived in the area and also had contact with other residents saying the same thing.
Later the Galveston Police Dept. issued a press release although it did not include some of this information so we included the spin words 'allegedly' and 'reportedly' and so on.
Tuesday evening I saw the story on a couple of the Houston TV stations. Wow! They had helicopters hovering over the neighborhood and a reporter standing in front of the police station reading a prepared press release issued by the police. Duh! They sent a reporter over 60 miles to stand in front of a building and read from a sheet of paper?
Oh! They did get the police chief to make a statement. It last less than 10 seconds in the story. He said, "it appeared to be robbery". It's no secret 99.9% of home invasions are robbery, usually for drugs.
In the end the public learned very little from these TV reports and I cannot imagine how much it cost the station to do that one story. Home invasions like this are a dime-a-dozen in Houston. It must have been a slow news days. The anchor person could have read the story from his/her desk and we would have learned just as much. But of course we wouldn't have seen the police station in background or got to hear the police chief's 10 second alarming statement.
That's the way I see it. How about you?
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Go Figure! Some Things Just Don't Make Sense
Keeping An Eye On A Killer
The Houston TV reporter who went all the way to Mississippi so she could stand in front of the jail and do an 'On Scene' report of the son who killed his parents and brother in Houston made this remark. "The Sheriff here in Mississippi has been keeping a very close eye on this suspect". WHAT? Does that mean the Sheriff in Mississippi don't normally keep and 'very close eye' on his inmates? Only the one's from Houston or what? Duh!
Weather Causes Crime
I have heard police chiefs give all kinds of reasons why the crime rate is high. Usually it is because he/she doesn't have enough police officers or police cars, or this or that or the other. But I have never heard one say his city has experienced a massive influx of drugs because of the weather, until now. I read in the local newspaper of a Texas Gulf Coast city the other day where the police chief of that town said, "Ike brought methamphetamine to the island".
If that's right and he is correct just think what the City of Boston is in for when the tons and tons of snow melts from the massive blizzard they are experiencing. They may need snow plows to clear the piles of methamphetamine that will follow the snow.
On The Scene Report
I still haven't figured out why one Houston TV station sent a reporter to Mississippi where a man was being held in jail for murdering his mother, father and little brother in Houston. She went there and stood in front of the jail and gave her live report that was the same in substance as all the other Houston stations were doing from Houston. It makes no sense to me why a reporter will, three days later go stand on a corner where a fatal wreck happened and tell us the story. There is nothing of the wreck left there. He or she wants us to think it an 'on the scene' report. I'm not falling for it.
That's the way I see it. How about you?
Breck
The Houston TV reporter who went all the way to Mississippi so she could stand in front of the jail and do an 'On Scene' report of the son who killed his parents and brother in Houston made this remark. "The Sheriff here in Mississippi has been keeping a very close eye on this suspect". WHAT? Does that mean the Sheriff in Mississippi don't normally keep and 'very close eye' on his inmates? Only the one's from Houston or what? Duh!
Weather Causes Crime
I have heard police chiefs give all kinds of reasons why the crime rate is high. Usually it is because he/she doesn't have enough police officers or police cars, or this or that or the other. But I have never heard one say his city has experienced a massive influx of drugs because of the weather, until now. I read in the local newspaper of a Texas Gulf Coast city the other day where the police chief of that town said, "Ike brought methamphetamine to the island".
If that's right and he is correct just think what the City of Boston is in for when the tons and tons of snow melts from the massive blizzard they are experiencing. They may need snow plows to clear the piles of methamphetamine that will follow the snow.
On The Scene Report
I still haven't figured out why one Houston TV station sent a reporter to Mississippi where a man was being held in jail for murdering his mother, father and little brother in Houston. She went there and stood in front of the jail and gave her live report that was the same in substance as all the other Houston stations were doing from Houston. It makes no sense to me why a reporter will, three days later go stand on a corner where a fatal wreck happened and tell us the story. There is nothing of the wreck left there. He or she wants us to think it an 'on the scene' report. I'm not falling for it.
That's the way I see it. How about you?
Breck
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