Why CrimeFighters are Needed (Police Can't Cope With Crime!) "CrimeFighters" is a word coined by the author to give a name to citizen crime fighters participating in law enforcement and paid on commission for their time, effort, and personal risk. A job description of a CrimeFighter is a bounty hunter, working unofficially for law enforcement agents to collect rewards, plus 50% of fines and forfeitures when available. Everyone knows the crime rate and violent crimes are on the increase. But, it's impossible for police to be at the scene when crimes are committed unless it's by accident or advance notice by informants. Fact is, police really can't do anything to reduce the increasing crime rate. It's like trying to bail out a sinking ship when the water is coming in faster then the crew can bail. They need help. CrimeFighters can provide that help. Chief Justice Richard Neeley, of the West Virginia Supreme Court, mentions in his book, "Take Back Your Neighborhood," that doubling or tripling the number of police patrols is NOT a viable solution to crime prevention and detection. The main reason is that police on patrols only spend about 2 to 5 percent of their time actually preventing "crime"! That may sound like neglect of duty, but it's not. Police patrols are used to discourage crime by their uniforms and easily identified patrol cars (police presence). Most of the time, they respond to radio calls to maintain law and order. "Law and order" covers a wide range of services that have little to do with making felony arrests. Police stop fights and family disputes, quiet noisy neighbors, catch wild animals or rescue pets, attend the dead until a medical examiner arrives, check out "suspicious noises" and (usually false) burglar alarms, issue parking or speeding tickets, go to the scene of traffic accidents and write accident reports, maintain the peace (law and order) at rock concerts and sporting events, pick up drunks and derelicts, deliver babies, escort ambulances, control traffic at fires and accidents or during emergencies, qualify at target practice, attend police lectures, lead parades and funerals, chauffeur high-ranking officials, give lectures to kids at public schools, spend countless hours in court as witnesses in civil and criminal suits, wait for and talk to prosecutors concerning arrests made, take coffee breaks, make personal phone calls and do personal errands, and spend almost as much time on paperwork filling in reports on everything they do. In addition to the above, sick leave, holidays, and 3 to 4 weeks vacation per year reduce time on the job. Altogether, Justice Neeley estimates that out of every $100 spent on a patrol police wages, only $2 or $3 is actually spent on felony-related law enforcement! It's not the polices' fault that they spend so little time on actual crime prevention and apprehension of criminals. We expect (and demand) them to take care of society's problems - whether they are crime-related or not. Supreme Court decisions have also hindered field police work. The ever- present threat of lawsuits have increased paperwork requirements, and reports must be filled every time the officer does something out of the ordinary, and that takes a few more hours. Patrol officers are usually not involved in follow-up work after a crime has been committed and the perpetrators (perps) have disappeared. That's the work of more experienced officers who have been promoted to detective rank. Plainclothes officers are assigned to various details relevant to such crimes, as homicide, rape, vice, robbery, bunco, organized crime, drug enforcement, etc. Many of these crimes require elaborate "sting operations" and undercover work. However, in a study for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, involving 153 police jurisdictions and covering a 2-year period, the Rand Corporation found that even police assigned to detective work spend little more than half their average time on actual casework. A year-long controlled experiment in Kansas City in the 1970s studied whether doubling or tripling the number of police patrols had any effect in reducing crime. The Police Foundation found that the extra police presence neither had an effect on the number of crimes committed, nor on the public's feeling of insecurity. While high visibility of clearly marked police cruisers and the distinctive uniform tend to suppress unlawful activity momentarily, they don't permanently prevent criminal activity. Criminals just wait until the police aren't around. The report concluded, "Primary responsibility rests with families, the community and its individual members. The police can only facilitate and assist members of the community in the maintenance of law and order, and no more." Robert diGrazia, the Police Chief of Montgomery County, Maryland, who was also the former Police Chief of Boston and St.Louis, said to a group of fellow Chiefs, "We are not letting the public in on our era's dirty little secret -- that there is little the police can do about crime." When you think about it, you realize that's the truth! Most police work is reactive. That is, crimes aren't committed when police are in the area. Police seldom are lucky enough to catch lawbreakers at the scene of the crime. Most of the time they are responding to crimes that have already taken place, and the perps have fled the scene and are unknown. That's where police need help. Help Wanted - With Restrictions A few Police Chiefs have openly admitted they need help. Police Commissioner Lee P. Brown, said, "We (the public) just can't continue to rely on the police." Others, with a John Wayne complex, will never admit they need help. But whether they admit it or not, they do need help. Crime statistics prove it. However, police don't want vigilantes or trigger-happy yahoos who could hinder them and threaten law and order. Police discourage civilian volunteers on the firing line, except in emergencies where they may ask for help. At all other times, it's best to stay out of the way. There's a good reason for their attitude and official policy. Training and experience are the two most important ingredients in police work. Cops are (usually, but not always) trained at Police Academies, and even after this basic training, rookies do not perform hazardous duty right away. Rookies are assigned to training units and/or to a Training Officer for further on-the-job training. Many veteran cops are reluctant to have a rookie as a partner instead of a fully trained officer when working on dangerous assignments or patrols. Ordinary citizen have no basic police training, may not be qualified with firearms, don't know police procedure in making arrests, and are liable to go bonkers when and if they come under fire. If you were a police officer, would you want untrained, unpredictable, unproven, and unreliable, rank amateurs for partners? Of course not. What You CAN Do Be on the alert to spot criminal activity. Learn to be observant. Look for things that don't look right or people who are out of place in their surroundings or acting suspicious. (Think like a cop!) Try to infiltrate street gangs if you're in that age bracket and can blend in, or find and make "friends" in criminal circles. But NEVER become involved in criminal activity yourself -- unless you have specific written authority from a law enforcement agent and are part of an official undercover operation. Work undercover: Learn who is involved in criminal activity, where they operate, and what they've done. Get evidence when you can. Feed the information to your local FBI agents and let them decide which appropriate law enforcement agency will be involved. Your information may provide probable cause to get search warrants. Let the authorities do the follow up and make the arrests. You'll still be eligible for rewards without having to risk your neck making arrests or appearing in court. Citizens work in a variety of positions (accountants, lawyers, secretaries, clerks, factory workers, truck drivers, etc.) in which criminal activity occurs. They may obtain sufficient evidence of a crime (probable cause) to lead to a formal investigation or an arrest. Undercover CrimeFighters should try to record information or criminal evidence on audiotape, videotape or film. When they have sufficient infor- mation they should contact an FBI agent to negotiate a reward. At that point, CrimeFighters usually drop out of the action. Bring the FBI into a case as soon as possible and let their undercover agent take over. Then the agent will be the witness who testifies in court. If the CrimeFighter testifies, anonymity will be lost. Revealing a Crime- Fighters' identity might also result in unpleasant retaliation, including physical violence. FBI vs. Police Departments Why work with the FBI instead of local police? Because almost all of the significant rewards in this book are based on federal laws. Crimefighters need to negotiate with the FBI, not local police. If the FBI isn't interested in making arrests, they'll turn it over to the local police department, but the Crimefighter will, if it's negotiated first, still collect federal rewards. The FBI uses experienced, well-qualified federal prosecutors. That's another reason to work with federal agents, federal courts and federal prosecutors. State prosecutors are too often inexperienced and overworked. Most will allow plea bargaining to lesser offenses to get an easy conviction. When they lose the felony conviction, you lose the reward! Few serious rewards are offered by state governments or cities. Local police aren't authorized to negotiate or pay federal rewards. Perhaps that's why CrimeStoppers and We-Tip evolved. After reading this book you'll realize that CrimeStoppers, We-Tip and other privately-funded reward organizations are for amateurs! If you want to collect the big rewards and be considered a professional, you have to move up the ladder to the federal level. Where the BIG Bucks Are Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law was created for mobsters like Al Capone. Recent court decisions indicate that felons who profit from their crimes comes under the scope of RICO laws - even bribery! (Chapter 8 provides full details of RICO law.) Successful career criminals often accumulate small fortunes from a lifetime of criminal activity. Anything of value purchased from the "fruits of criminal activity" may be seized by the courts. Multi-million dollar businesses have been forfeited under RICO. (A few of them are mentioned in Chapter 5.) It doesn't matter when the assets were purchased or whether they relate to the crime being prosecuted. Anything of value owned by a lawbreaker that can't be proven by him to have been purchased with "honest money" (and the burden of proof is on the defendant) can be seized by the court under RICO laws -- and the CrimeFighter can get a share of the fines and forfeitures! RICO law now applies to virtually every felony except those committed for other than profit such as joyriding in a stolen automobile or murder in crimes of passion, for example. That leaves a wide range of criminal activity subject to RICO and opens up more possibilities for fines and forfeitures -- to take away the profit from successful criminals. Police are required to face danger as part of their job. Crimefighters don't have to go all the way regardless of personal risk. Crimefighters can back off, at any time, and give the information and evidence to the FBI. Let them do the dangerous work. They'll thank you for it, too! In addition to RICO and sharing in huge fines and forfeitures, dozens of federal laws pay generous rewards - a couple of them up to $250,000! CrimeFighter Candidates All ex-law officers, licensed private investigators, security guards, military veterans, and bail recovery agents, are ideal CrimeFighters. CrimeFighters are self-employed. No license is required. And there are no age limits, sexual or physical requirements. Chapter 25 tells you where to get law enforcement training, hand-to-hand combat, and handgun practice that's better than those at Police Academies. There are hundreds of specialized books and videos in the CrimeFighter Catalog (CRIMCAT). Look for it on your local BBSs. If you don't have the training, you can get it! If you've been looking for an action career, one that pays $100,000 or more a year, in proportion to the risks taken, this is it. Part II Self-Help in Law Enforcement The history of law enforcement shows that before the early 1900s there were very few "public" police. Most police were watchmen or guards employed by merchants to protect their merchandise. In towns and villages everyone looked out for one another. When a known criminal or crime in progress was spotted, a hue and cry was sounded. All able-bodied men and women would rally to catch and punish the culprit. At frontiers, almost everyone had a gun. When a crime was spotted the criminal was either captured or shot by irate citizens. The only bleeding hearts in those days were in dead culprits! People knew what to do and what was expected of them. This self-help approach went out of fashion with the horse and buggy. In the 1900's police forces as we know them today were gradually established in cities, and for a while the crime rate was low enough for local police to handle crimes without any help. Times have changed. The self-help concept needs to be seriously reconsidered today. During the last century the public has been led to believe law enforcement is strictly up to city, state, and federal authorities. Some police still insist law enforcement should be reserved only for those who are trained for it. It isn't. There is no legal monopoly on law enforcement. Anyone can and should get involved in law enforcement -- up to their capabilities. It's every citizen's obligation and duty to help enforcement personnel maintain law and order and to catch criminals or give evidence when they see someone committing a crime. Remember the Kansas City report, "Primary responsibility rests with families, the community and its individual members. The police can only facilitate and assist members of the community in the maintenance of law and order, and no more." When some citizens see a crime being committed, they pretend they don't see it. They turn away because, even if they wanted to do something, they simply don't know WHAT to do or HOW to do it. They feel vulnerable, scared, helpless, and embarrassed! That's the problem. Solution: Training for CrimeFighters is available. Chapter 25 provides full details. More than 400 books and videos listed in CrimeFighters' Catalog (CRIMCAT) can provide insider information on all areas of law enforcement and related subjects. Costs of Law Enforcement A cop's pay for 20 years, fringe benefits, equipment, and administrative support costs, is about $1 million ($50,000 a year for 20 years). And, if the officer is promoted to sergeant before retirement, the pension for about 35 years will cost another $1 million. And, not all cops are in the firing line. There's a large percentage of sworn officers in administrative and other support services. The total cost of each full time career officer on the streets cost taxpayers close to THREE million dollars! That's something to remember when you ask for more police protection and want a cop on every street corner. Police services aren't free! If, as a taxpayer, you don't mind paying $3 million for a career police officer who spends about 5% of the time fighting crime, you shouldn't mind a full-time CrimeFighter being paid $1 million on a commission-only basis. Conclusion Citizens can be unofficial undercover agents to find out about criminal activity and give this information to the FBI to make arrests, or make the arrests themselves when there is no time to call the FBI. The incentive to put yourself in a potentially hazardous situations is that you can be paid handsomely for it from generous rewards. Large rewards are available and mentioned in detail in this book. Your share of fines and forfeitures, sometimes in the millions of dollars, are bonuses! Being a Crimefighter isn't for timid people. It's for those who want adventure, physical action, large sums of money, and who are not afraid to get involved in the war on crime. If you've thought of being a police officer, but weren't eligible, you can be a CrimeFighter instead and do (almost) the same job. Crimefighters are independent, and their hours are flexible. Unlike police, they can take the jobs they like and leave the ones they don't like; work with partners of their own choosing; take time off when they want; wear clothes they like to wear; and as an unofficial bounty hunter, make about $100,000 a year, or more. Volunteers are needed. Your Crimefighter application is in this FloppyBook. Be the first CrimeFighter in your neighborhood and recruit your own group. F9 for next Chapter