City funding recommended for crime prevention group
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
A City Council working group created after the Fairmont Terrace shootings recommended Tuesday that the city help fund the nonprofit organization that operates Tulsa’s crime-reporting tip line.
The final recommendations of the Public Safety Intelligence Working Group include entering into a contract with the Crime Prevention Network, formerly known as the Tulsa Crime Commission, to ensure that the organization has annual funding from the city.
The main goal would be to help fund a massive marketing campaign for the organization’s Crime Stoppers tip line, which could carry a total budget of at least $250,000, said Councilor G.T. Bynum, who chaired the working group.
“I’m really coming at this from the standpoint of we just spent millions of dollars to tell people about a trash service that they’re going to have anyway — just to make them feel better about it — and yet we’re not spending any money to market a tool that makes our community safer,” he said.
Crime Prevention Network Director Carol Bush previously told the working group that widespread misconceptions about the anonymous tip line have discouraged residents from using the service.
She estimated that the equivalent of the organization’s $250,000 annual budget would be needed to adequately market the service by means such as billboards, fliers and media advertisements.
“In my opinion, the city of Tulsa ought to be involved in that significantly,” Bynum said.
Read more in Wednesday's Tulsa World.
