*News
Release* Date: May 31, 2011
Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office
Crime Stoppers organizes in Middlesex County
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Anthony A.
Caputo, retired director of the New Brunswick Police Department, today
announced that a board of directors has been created and has begun operating
Crime Stoppers of Middlesex County Inc., a non-profit organization that will
offer rewards to the public for information leading to the arrests of suspects
for a variety of crimes. Mr. Caputo will serve as chairman and president of the
new organization.
Crime Stoppers is a nationally-recognized agency dedicated
to helping police solve crimes by offering cash payments to entice people to
call a special phone number and anonymously provide information.
In
The
phone number is: 1-800-939-9600. The website is: middlesextips.com. Text
messages may be sent to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword ‘’midtip’’ followed by
a message.
Those
who call will be given instructions on how to collect cash rewards by using a
numerical code that will be recognized by a local bank, which will pay the
rewards that are approved by the board.
Prosecutor
Kaplan said Crime Stoppers is a new way for
‘’Police in Middlesex County have long had a strong working
relationship with our residents, whose assistance has been invaluable in
preventing crime, solving crime and providing information that has led to
successful prosecutions,’’ Prosecutor Kaplan said.
‘’Crime Stoppers of Middlesex County Inc. offers a
financial incentive and guarantees anonymity to those who might otherwise be
reluctant to help us,’’ Prosecutor Kaplan said.
The
new board of directors voted to elect Mr. Caputo as chairman and president, and
named Daniel R. DelBagno, a
retired captain of the Newark Police Department, as vice-president, and
Charles Crocco, a retired regional operations manager
for Citi Bank, as treasurer.
In addition, the board secretary will be Ron Franz, a retired New
Jersey State Police captain who serves as executive director of the Middlesex
County 200 Club, which recognizes excellence and heroism among police officers.
The board
members are:
·
Greg
Schiano, head football coach at
·
Stephen
K. Jones, president and chief executive officer of
·
Kevin
P. Donovan, vice-president, global security for Johnson & Johnson
·
Adrian
Hughes, general manager of the Hyatt Regency in
·
Ben Cannizzaro, publisher of Greater Media Newspapers, and
·
Gerard
Cappella, chief of the Dunellen Police Department and president of the
Middlesex County Association of Chiefs of Police.
Members
of the board of directors will volunteer their time to consider the amounts of
rewards that will be granted to anonymous callers.
Crime
Stoppers of Middlesex County Inc. also has corporate members that have provided
financial support. They are:
·
·
Johnson &
Johnson
·
The Hyatt Regency
of
·
Greater Media Newspapers,
which publishes four weekly newspapers in
‘’Crime Stoppers of Middlesex County Inc. has been made
possible through a group of corporations that have generously donated financial
assistance to get this program started,’’ Mr. Caputo said. ‘’We also have
assembled a dedicated team of volunteers that will help run this organization.
This is a great way for the community and law enforcement to work together.’’
Middlesex
County Freeholder Director Christopher D. Rafano said, ‘’On behalf of my fellow
Freeholders, I commend the Crime Stoppers of Middlesex County and the efforts
being made to keep our communities safe.’’
‘’The
Crime Stoppers program is a good incentive to help make our communities
safer,’’ said Middlesex County Freeholder Ronald G. Rios, chair of the county’s
Law and Public Safety Committee. ‘’When residents and local law enforcement
agencies work together, we all win.’’
For more
than a year, Prosecutor Kaplan has been working to help organize the Crime
Stoppers program for the county, first by meeting with other Crime Stoppers
organizations for advice on creating the program, and then by seeking corporate
members to finance the program and provide representatives for the board of
directors.
‘’To
set up this organization in Middlesex County, we studied how Crime Stoppers
works elsewhere in New Jersey, and we have learned that in some cases, people
don’t want the reward money, they just want to help keep their communities and
families safe,’’ Prosecutor Kaplan said.
The
new organization also has the full support of the police departments in
Middlesex County.
Dunellen
Police Chief Gerard Cappella, president of the Middlesex County Association of
Chiefs of Police, said Crime Stoppers will be an important part of criminal
investigations.
‘’We
would like to thank Prosecutor Kaplan and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s
Office for initiating a program that we feel engages the public and reaches out
to the community to help us solve crimes that could otherwise go unsolved for
some period of time,’’ Chief Cappella said.
‘’We
also thank the corporations that are supporting Crime Stoppers and appreciate
that they recognize how important public support will be to ensure the
program’s success,’’ Chief Cappella said.
Robert
J. Zullo Jr., an attorney with the law firm of Martin, Kane & Kuper of East
Brunswick, prepared a certificate of incorporation, which was filed in
Its
parent organization, Crime Stoppers USA, which offers advice and training to
local Crime Stoppers organizations, reported that since the program began in
1976, Crime Stoppers has been responsible for 543,509 arrests, has cleared 905,089
cases and has paid a total of $82,801,996 in rewards nationwide.
Any
corporation or business wishing to be a financial sponsor to Crime Stoppers of
Middlesex County Inc. may contact Lt. Christopher Penna at the Middlesex County
Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745- 4102.