(August 28, 2014)

Crime Stoppers and Centenary's Department of Public Safety celebrate partnership

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College has a new partner in crime to help keep the College campus and greater Shreveport-Bossier City community safe: Shreveport-Caddo Parish Crime Stoppers. The recent community partnership came to fruition when Chief Eddie Walker approached the local Crime Stoppers board with the idea.

"It had never dawned on us to partner with institutions, but once we heard it we thought it was a great idea," said Stuart Dubin, President of Crime Stoppers Board.

Crime Stoppers is an international organization that creates networks of local programs that work together to prevent and solve crimes in communities and schools across the world.

"Crime Stoppers has always been available to the Centenary community but students, faculty, and staff may not have known it was there," said Walker. "This new partnership will teach Centenary students how to anonymously report crimes to Crime Stoppers as well as revive the Crime Watch phone line we have here on Centenary's campus."

Centenary's Department of Public Safety is also pleased to give students an opportunity to be contributing members of the Shreveport community as they travel, work, and live in the area.

During the partnership process, Walker was invited to serve on the board for a 2-year term.

"Eddie is not one to just sit around," said Dubin. "He has always been an active participant in the community. Board members are recruited by invitation only to ensure a high caliber level leader and Eddie fits that."

Members of the Centenary community who wish to report a crime or tip can do so anonymously by texting "CADDO" plus their message to CRIMES (274637). A code number will be texted back to the tipster that should be kept private. After several weeks, tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 318.673.7373 and share their code number to receive an update on the status of the investigation. Tips that lead to the arrests of suspects, recovery of stolen property, or drug violations are eligible for cash rewards up to $1,000 that are paid to tipsters on an anonymous basis. For instances that do not rise to the level of crime, such as a policy violation, Centenary community members may use the Centenary Crime Watch hotline at 318.841.7238.

Today there are over 1,200 Crime Stoppers affiliates throughout the world including Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Bahamas, West Indies, Germany, and other countries. Globally, Crime Stoppers has recovered over 3 billion dollars worth of stolen property and narcotics and boasts a 95% conviction rate on cases solved by Crime Stoppers tips. In 1982, the Shreveport Police Department started the first Crime Stoppers program in the area.