Wising up
By JULIE THIBODEAUX
Most-read stories
- Man in Fort Worth car crash dies
- JPS patient dies after policy slows move to ER
- Ray Lewis' little brother faces long odds making Cowboys' roster as a running back
- Pedestrian killed on Arlington highway off-ramp
- FDA shuts down Pasadena, Texas, seafood company
Most e-mailed stories
- JPS patient dies after policy slows move to ER
- Time adds depth to Kristofferson's work, but takes nothing away
- COLLEGE NOTES: Weatherford grad breaks TCU record
- Small planes collide in Roanoke
- American Airlines union considers 18-month pact
When a sex offender cut off his monitor, an email alert went out in Wise County.
A radio station employee who received the email broadcast the alert over the airwaves. A trucker who heard it contacted his wife, who it turned out, lived down the street from the offender. While she was picking up their child from school, she recognized the suspect’s vehicle and notified the police who quickly apprehended the man.
According to Sgt. Debbie Denney, who sends the email bulletins from the Wise County Sheriff’s office, that is just one of many success stories of the Wise Eyes Crime Watch program.
Since its inception in 1999 the program, started by former Wise County Sheriff Phil Ryan, has grown.
“It originally was started to help in child abduction cases,” said Denney.
Law enforcement officials know that there is a three-hour window when it’s crucial to locate an abducted child.
According to Denney, before the email-based Wise Eyes Crime Watch program began, the sheriff would send faxes out to community contacts to alert them of crimes or even bad weather conditions.
However, growing use of the Internet and email helped the practice pick up speed.
Today, Denney sends emails to hundreds of residents and workers in the area
As part of its community involvement effort, the Devon Energy Corporation helps fund the program’s promotional literature, bumper stickers, magnets and note pads. It also paid for a van to be used by Wise County officers to promote the program.
When the company saw the value of Wise County’s program, Devon took it to 26 other counties and cities in four states.
“These counties have a huge number of square miles to cover and a limited number of deputies to cover them,” said Margaret Hitchcock, public relations for Devon. “This program provides 1,000 additional set of eyes.”
In 2006, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department started its own Wise Eyes program.
According to Sgt. Tom Hargrave, who oversees the Johnson County program, in the past, when the department wanted to alert the public to a criminal at large or a fraudulent scam, they contacted daily area newspaper. That would often mean an alert went out between 12 and 24 hours later. In the best case scenario, a broadcast media would pick up the story and word would get out within three or four hours.
Now, hundreds of people in the county can be notified instantly via email.
Hargrave regularly speaks to groups to enlist more to sign up for the alerts, offering instructions on what information to look for.
He believes ordinary people who are going about their daily routines are often the best observers of suspicious activity.
“You can’t drive down the same street twice a day without noticing which cars are supposed to be there.”
Giving people notice on what is happening in the area, is not only helpful to law enforcement, he said, but empowering to residents.
“Information is power.”
