Tips, citizens help fight crime

Every day, new crimes are reported to law enforcement agencies like the Sheriff's Office. Some are cases that do not need investigating because there is enough evidence to be collected by the responding deputy, or in some cases, the incident is ongoing when the deputy arrives and the deputy witnesses some of the facts, personally.

There are other cases, however, that are reported and must be turned over to investigators to try and look for clues or evidence and look for facts that could lead to an answer. Some cases are easier than others, based on how much evidence there is to investigate, and some of the time, there is enough that leads can be followed up on and a case can be solved shortly after.

Others, however, may not offer any evidence that leads to enough facts to solve or close a case. When that happens, the case is left open in the hopes that something will turn up in the future. Most of the time, when something does show up that can help lead investigators to something that can close a case, it comes from the public.

No matter who is investigating a crime and no matter what type of crime it is, the public is often involved in helping authorities capture the suspect.

On July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was killed in a shootout with the FBI and local law enforcement,when they attempted to apprehend him outside of a movie theater. Dillinger had killed 10 people, including a county sheriff, robbed multiple banks, and staged three jailbreaks.

How was Dillinger caught? A friend of Dillinger's girlfriend told authorities they would be at the movies that night. Everyone has heard the stories and seen the movies about people like Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and other famous criminals, but you never hear about the tips or leads that came from citizens that helped solve those cases.

From the largest investigations to the smallest, tips and information provided by helpful people is what makes the difference.

Last year, we established the tips email (tips@VernonCoSheriff.org) with the Sheriff's Office, an anonymous message box on our web site (www.VernonCoSheriff.org) and established a tracking and filing system within the office for tips.

We served warrants, found drugs, found stolen property, made arrests, and closed many cases because of people contacting us and giving us information to help with our investigations. No matter how much investigating we do, we could not do it without the help of people in Vernon County!

Queen Elizabeth II said, "The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load."

The Sheriff's Office would like to thank the people of Vernon County for their help! We will continue to use every resource available to serve the citizens in our communities.