MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River are the only Marine Corps installations with a Crime Stoppers Program partnership.
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, along with their Department of Defense Dependants Schools partnered with the program in December 2000 to create a unified program capable of receiving and processing tips and information on crimes anywhere in Onslow County including military installations.
The Jacksonville/Onslow County Crime Stoppers program was created in April 2000. The program supports local law enforcement by publicizing facts regarding unsolved crimes in the local media and requesting citizens with information about those crimes contact the program.
The program originated in Albuquerque, N.M., in 1976 to help combat crime in their community. There are more than 1,200 Crime Stopper Programs all over the world.
The base benefits from the program because it helps catch criminals, which makes the base and the community a safer place to work and live, according to Gunnery Sgt. Robert C. Jadwin, the physical security chief with physical security, Provost Marshal’s Office, MCB. It also provides an incentive to report crimes.
The program offers cash rewards of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest or conviction, raised in March 2005 from $1,000. The caller is also guaranteed to remain anonymous. Money for the program is raised through different fundraisers throughout the year.
“The person doesn’t even need to step into the Jacksonville Police Department to receive a reward,” Jadwin said.
The program board meets every month to listen to the tips given to the hotline, and if those tips led to an arrest, they determine an appropriate award.
In the program’s first five years of operation, it received more than 1,100 tips resulting in over 150 arrests.
“The Marines support us tremendously, especially with our Barbeque Fund raiser in March,” said Bob Bright the vice chairman of the Crime Stoppers Program here. “The Marines and civilians really support this program, and it’s really paid off.”
The Crime Stoppers 6th annual fund raiser takes place the last Thursday of March in front of the Jacksonville Mall, according to Bright.
Camp Lejeune recently became more active in advertising the program and notifying people to call the program hotline number if they see a crime, according to Staff Sgt. Zachary V. Parks, a platoon sergeant with the Provost Marshal’s Office physical security office.
If someone has a tip to report on a crime, the Crime Stoppers hotline is (910) 938-3273.