By Jim Cogan
The title of this blog is one of the mottos that we have used over the years. It speaks to the simplicity of the program and its power over crime. This was a quiet month for Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers. We have 14 current cases under investigation, but only one closed last month. The one that closed was a great example of how crime doesn’t pay, but we do.
We received a tip drugs were being sold out of a house in San José. Police set up surveillance at the home and witnessed the suspect leaving with an accomplice. The officers followed them and were able to stop them on a traffic violation. After they stopped the car, they observed the suspects tossing bags of what later turned out to be marijuana out of the car. Officers recovered approximately half a pound of marijuana valued at $1,000, drug paraphernalia, and $1,000 in cash. The suspects will face criminal charges and jail time while the tipster will receive a reward. Crime doesn’t pay, but we do.
At Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers, we are proud of our impressive record of success, but we are also proud of the exceptional work performed by the men and women of Santa Clara County’s law enforcement community. Every year, we recognize their service by hosting an awards dinner where every jurisdiction is offered the opportunity to nominate an officer or team of officers who have distinguished themselves in the line of duty. Over the years, we have recognized heroes who day in and day out put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe. We have honored law enforcement professionals who go the extra mile to get the job done, and it is our privilege to thank them for making us all a little safer.
This year’s awards dinner will be held on November 13th at San José’s Forth Street Summit Center. For more information, please call Councilmember Pete Constant’s office at (408) 535-4901. This is a great event that will show you why we live in one of the safest regions in the Country. Together we will thank the men and women who protect San José and all of Silicon Valley.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Showing posts with label Jim Cogan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Cogan. Show all posts
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Crime Stoppers Make a Big Splash
By Jim Cogan
This month, among arrests for drug sales, assault and burglary was a new one for me. One of the criminals arrested through a Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers tip had 44 stolen tickets to Raging Waters valued at $2,200. (Maybe he was in planning on a whole summer worth of daycations.) While it doesn't sound serious, this crime could result in charges like felony grand theft. I guess you could say that this guy is all washed-up and could get sent up the river for a long time thanks to an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen.
All joking aside, crimes like this one are all too common and can have a devastating affect on businesses that are just barely making it in this economy. It is unclear how the suspect was able to get so many tickets, but in many cases it is an inside job. Merchandise theft from employees results in millions of dollars in lost profits annually.
At Crime Stoppers, we are serious about helping businesses avoid unnecessary losses. We have worked with retailers and their loss prevention departments to make employees aware that they can call Crime Stoppers and remain anonymous. If you know of anyone stealing from your employer, then please call our tip line at (408) 947-STOP.
Crime Stoppers also made a big splash this month in San Jose by partnering with Councilmember Madison Nguyen to give her constituents a tangible way that they can make a difference in their community. A couple of years ago, Councilmember Nguyen approached me about partnering with us to pass out t-shirts with the Crime Stoppers name and phone number printed on them. Hundreds of San Jose residents learned about Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers this year thanks to this partnership and Councilmember Nguyen’s support of the program.
Thank you, Councilmember Nguyen. Crime Stoppers works because of leaders like you.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers. This is a monthly report he writes exclusively for Protect San Jose.
This month, among arrests for drug sales, assault and burglary was a new one for me. One of the criminals arrested through a Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers tip had 44 stolen tickets to Raging Waters valued at $2,200. (Maybe he was in planning on a whole summer worth of daycations.) While it doesn't sound serious, this crime could result in charges like felony grand theft. I guess you could say that this guy is all washed-up and could get sent up the river for a long time thanks to an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen.
All joking aside, crimes like this one are all too common and can have a devastating affect on businesses that are just barely making it in this economy. It is unclear how the suspect was able to get so many tickets, but in many cases it is an inside job. Merchandise theft from employees results in millions of dollars in lost profits annually.
At Crime Stoppers, we are serious about helping businesses avoid unnecessary losses. We have worked with retailers and their loss prevention departments to make employees aware that they can call Crime Stoppers and remain anonymous. If you know of anyone stealing from your employer, then please call our tip line at (408) 947-STOP.
Crime Stoppers also made a big splash this month in San Jose by partnering with Councilmember Madison Nguyen to give her constituents a tangible way that they can make a difference in their community. A couple of years ago, Councilmember Nguyen approached me about partnering with us to pass out t-shirts with the Crime Stoppers name and phone number printed on them. Hundreds of San Jose residents learned about Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers this year thanks to this partnership and Councilmember Nguyen’s support of the program.
Thank you, Councilmember Nguyen. Crime Stoppers works because of leaders like you.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers. This is a monthly report he writes exclusively for Protect San Jose.
Monday, August 10, 2009
National Night Out Recap
By Jim Cogan
Last Tuesday, thousands of San Jose residents joined together with San Jose police officers to celebrate National Night Out. All over the city, officers who walk the beat on the midnight shift came to work early to get the opportunity to meet the neighbors that they serve.
In my neighborhood, over 80 residents came together for the first time in recent memory. It was a wonderful gathering of neighbors and police officers. Two sergeants and six officers attended our event. Amid the ice cream and good conversation I heard a phrase that summarized the entire event: “Now that I know about it, I’ll be on the look out…”
This statement was made by the officer who works the midnight shift on our neighborhood beat. His promise to be on the lookout for whatever was bothering my neighbor is exactly what National Night Out is all about, the community and police working together to protect San Jose. Perhaps they were discussing the recent car burglaries in the neighborhood or a strange car that doesn’t belong to anyone in the neighborhood. Whatever the case, the officer now has some invaluable information and my neighbor knows that that the police are ready to help.
I spoke to the officer, who appreciated the opportunity to meet the residents on his beat. He told me that he never gets to talk to residents, because most of us are asleep when he punches in for his shift. I was impressed with all of the officers who attended our event and speaking for my neighbors, I think we all will sleep a little better. The officers were all very courteous and excited to have the opportunity to meet residents. It really made my neighbors happy as well. Many of them thanked me for organizing the event and talked about how to make it better next year.
In our neighborhood, National Night Out sparked interest in getting organized. In fact, sixty of my neighbors signed up to organize a neighborhood watch and start a neighborhood association. I am confident that together we will strengthen our partnership with the San Jose Police Department and make our neighborhood safer.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Last Tuesday, thousands of San Jose residents joined together with San Jose police officers to celebrate National Night Out. All over the city, officers who walk the beat on the midnight shift came to work early to get the opportunity to meet the neighbors that they serve.
In my neighborhood, over 80 residents came together for the first time in recent memory. It was a wonderful gathering of neighbors and police officers. Two sergeants and six officers attended our event. Amid the ice cream and good conversation I heard a phrase that summarized the entire event: “Now that I know about it, I’ll be on the look out…”
This statement was made by the officer who works the midnight shift on our neighborhood beat. His promise to be on the lookout for whatever was bothering my neighbor is exactly what National Night Out is all about, the community and police working together to protect San Jose. Perhaps they were discussing the recent car burglaries in the neighborhood or a strange car that doesn’t belong to anyone in the neighborhood. Whatever the case, the officer now has some invaluable information and my neighbor knows that that the police are ready to help.
I spoke to the officer, who appreciated the opportunity to meet the residents on his beat. He told me that he never gets to talk to residents, because most of us are asleep when he punches in for his shift. I was impressed with all of the officers who attended our event and speaking for my neighbors, I think we all will sleep a little better. The officers were all very courteous and excited to have the opportunity to meet residents. It really made my neighbors happy as well. Many of them thanked me for organizing the event and talked about how to make it better next year.
In our neighborhood, National Night Out sparked interest in getting organized. In fact, sixty of my neighbors signed up to organize a neighborhood watch and start a neighborhood association. I am confident that together we will strengthen our partnership with the San Jose Police Department and make our neighborhood safer.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
National Night Out 2009
By Jim Cogan
The best weapon we have against crime in our City is each other. Community policing relies on community involvement. Whether it’s participating in Neighborhood Watch, joining a neighborhood association or simply picking up the paper when your neighbor is on vacation, San Jose’s neighborhoods offer many models of community involvement that make a difference in keeping us safe.
Normally, I encourage you to support my favorite community policing program, Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers, but I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in another valuable community policing event, National Night Out.
National Night Out is a crime and drug prevention event sponsored nationally by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the San Jose Police Department. This year marks the 26th annual event, and over 34 million people across the country are expected to participate.
Tuesday evening, August 4, 2009, residents across the country will be taking back their streets. In my neighborhood, we are organizing an ice cream social in a park. A few of us have committed to distribute flyers inviting our neighbors to get together and meet each other. Other neighborhoods have barbeques or extravagant resource fairs, but we have chosen to keep it simple to ensure everyone the opportunity to talk and get to know each other.
Though ours will be a humble outing, we still expect our beat officers and perhaps some of the command staff to attend. We are an official National Night Out celebration and the police department makes every National Night Out event a priority. In fact, I first met San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis at a National Night Out event many years ago.
In order to ensure that the police knew about our event, I called the SJPD Community Services office at (408) 277-4133. They provided me with a lot of helpful information for making our flyers and put me on the list for police visits. They also referred me to this page on the SJPD website for more information.
I am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet my neighbors and talk about how we can improve our community. Please join me in making San Jose a little safer by getting involved and organizing your own National Night Out event on Tuesday evening August 4th.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
The best weapon we have against crime in our City is each other. Community policing relies on community involvement. Whether it’s participating in Neighborhood Watch, joining a neighborhood association or simply picking up the paper when your neighbor is on vacation, San Jose’s neighborhoods offer many models of community involvement that make a difference in keeping us safe.
Normally, I encourage you to support my favorite community policing program, Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers, but I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in another valuable community policing event, National Night Out.
National Night Out is a crime and drug prevention event sponsored nationally by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by the San Jose Police Department. This year marks the 26th annual event, and over 34 million people across the country are expected to participate.
Tuesday evening, August 4, 2009, residents across the country will be taking back their streets. In my neighborhood, we are organizing an ice cream social in a park. A few of us have committed to distribute flyers inviting our neighbors to get together and meet each other. Other neighborhoods have barbeques or extravagant resource fairs, but we have chosen to keep it simple to ensure everyone the opportunity to talk and get to know each other.
Though ours will be a humble outing, we still expect our beat officers and perhaps some of the command staff to attend. We are an official National Night Out celebration and the police department makes every National Night Out event a priority. In fact, I first met San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis at a National Night Out event many years ago.
In order to ensure that the police knew about our event, I called the SJPD Community Services office at (408) 277-4133. They provided me with a lot of helpful information for making our flyers and put me on the list for police visits. They also referred me to this page on the SJPD website for more information.
I am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet my neighbors and talk about how we can improve our community. Please join me in making San Jose a little safer by getting involved and organizing your own National Night Out event on Tuesday evening August 4th.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Crime Stoppers Report
By Jim Cogan
This is the first in a monthly series detailing the work of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Dozens of presentations explaining Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers have taught me that people are most interested in the cases our program has helped to solve. In that vein, I asked Protect San Jose if I could write a monthly blog about our work.
This month, I want to highlight three cases:
In the first case, there was a report of a drug dealer peddling at a San Jose high school. The tip came in thanks to our Campus Crime Stoppers program that provides students with the opportunity to call or email us with information. San Jose police officers went to the school and found the suspect. They found a stolen police badge and arrested him for theft. Additional charges are forthcoming.
In the second case, a tip came in about drugs being sold out of a house in South San Jose. Our Officer Liaison passed the tip along to San Jose Police Department Metro unit. Metro officers investigated the tip and gathered enough evidence to get a search warrant. They searched the home and seized $3,500 dollars worth of drugs and five guns.
The last case is ongoing. The suspect was working as a janitor at a San Jose high school when it was discovered that he possessed a large quantity of child pornography. Young victims who had been molested by the suspect came forward, and the suspect fled.
Police had no idea where he was, and so, in January, we aired a radio spot about the case. After the story aired, we received a tip that the suspect was hiding out in Mexico. The information was passed along to the United States Marshals, who set up a sting with Mexican authorities. The suspect was arrested and is currently fighting extradition.
All three of these cases illustrate how valuable good information is to arresting criminals and how effective the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers program is at getting that information in the hands of police. The community provides the information, and the police build the cases. Together, we protect San Jose.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers. You can visit their website to find out more about the program.
This is the first in a monthly series detailing the work of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.
Dozens of presentations explaining Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers have taught me that people are most interested in the cases our program has helped to solve. In that vein, I asked Protect San Jose if I could write a monthly blog about our work.
This month, I want to highlight three cases:
In the first case, there was a report of a drug dealer peddling at a San Jose high school. The tip came in thanks to our Campus Crime Stoppers program that provides students with the opportunity to call or email us with information. San Jose police officers went to the school and found the suspect. They found a stolen police badge and arrested him for theft. Additional charges are forthcoming.
In the second case, a tip came in about drugs being sold out of a house in South San Jose. Our Officer Liaison passed the tip along to San Jose Police Department Metro unit. Metro officers investigated the tip and gathered enough evidence to get a search warrant. They searched the home and seized $3,500 dollars worth of drugs and five guns.
The last case is ongoing. The suspect was working as a janitor at a San Jose high school when it was discovered that he possessed a large quantity of child pornography. Young victims who had been molested by the suspect came forward, and the suspect fled.
Police had no idea where he was, and so, in January, we aired a radio spot about the case. After the story aired, we received a tip that the suspect was hiding out in Mexico. The information was passed along to the United States Marshals, who set up a sting with Mexican authorities. The suspect was arrested and is currently fighting extradition.
All three of these cases illustrate how valuable good information is to arresting criminals and how effective the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers program is at getting that information in the hands of police. The community provides the information, and the police build the cases. Together, we protect San Jose.
Jim Cogan is President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers. You can visit their website to find out more about the program.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Crime Stoppers Builds Collateral
By Jim Cogan
In many cities, community policing begins and ends with Neighborhood Watch. That is not the case in San Jose. Whether it’s ego or staffing limitations, there are few departments that offer the same level of commitment as the San Jose Police Department.
As President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers, I can tell you we enjoy support from command staff in almost every jurisdiction in the county. But the SJPD has fully embraced our cause — all the way through to the beat officers.
I have had an opportunity to witness the dedication and professionalism of the San Jose Police Department in ways that very few people have. I have seen our Liaison Officer hop on a plane and fly to Missouri to detain and transport a bail-jumping child molester or jump on a tip to arrest drug dealers. Just this spring, San Jose police apprehended a top lieutenant in the Mexican mafia by acting quickly on a simple parole violation tip they received from Crime Stoppers.
The SJPD has worked diligently to develop credibility with the community. This credibility helps the department solve and prevent crimes. Their support of Crime Stoppers has built on that collateral.
Two years ago, we assisted in solving three homicides. One was a brutal rape and stabbing. SJPD officers encouraged potential witnesses at the scene to call Crime Stoppers with tips in order to remain anonymous. The tips came in, and the murderers were caught.
Last month, we received a tip that a juvenile gang member had brought a knife to school in order to seek retribution from rival gang members who had assaulted him the day before. Our Liaison Officer wasted no time in going to the school. The juvenile admitted to the officer that he had a knife on him, saying “I’m not going to lie to you...” That kind of rapport is invaluable, and in this case, the combination of a Crime Stopper tip and SJPD credibility probably saved lives.
Our police department may not be perfect. There is always room for improvement. But improvement can only come through open and honest dialogue. The San Jose Police Department has endured an assault of criticism in the past year. Unfortunately, the few constructive recommendations to emerge from the controversy have been lost in what can only be categorized as a witch hunt.
It is time we recognize that we have a professional and dedicated police department that works hard to serve our community. Eroding their credibility will not make us safer. It will only make it harder for the police to protect our great city and may compromise the continued success of programs like Crime Stoppers.
We like to say, “Crime Stoppers works because of you!” It is with all confidence that I say Crime Stoppers would not work without the San Jose Police Department.
In many cities, community policing begins and ends with Neighborhood Watch. That is not the case in San Jose. Whether it’s ego or staffing limitations, there are few departments that offer the same level of commitment as the San Jose Police Department.
As President of Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers, I can tell you we enjoy support from command staff in almost every jurisdiction in the county. But the SJPD has fully embraced our cause — all the way through to the beat officers.
I have had an opportunity to witness the dedication and professionalism of the San Jose Police Department in ways that very few people have. I have seen our Liaison Officer hop on a plane and fly to Missouri to detain and transport a bail-jumping child molester or jump on a tip to arrest drug dealers. Just this spring, San Jose police apprehended a top lieutenant in the Mexican mafia by acting quickly on a simple parole violation tip they received from Crime Stoppers.
The SJPD has worked diligently to develop credibility with the community. This credibility helps the department solve and prevent crimes. Their support of Crime Stoppers has built on that collateral.
Two years ago, we assisted in solving three homicides. One was a brutal rape and stabbing. SJPD officers encouraged potential witnesses at the scene to call Crime Stoppers with tips in order to remain anonymous. The tips came in, and the murderers were caught.
Last month, we received a tip that a juvenile gang member had brought a knife to school in order to seek retribution from rival gang members who had assaulted him the day before. Our Liaison Officer wasted no time in going to the school. The juvenile admitted to the officer that he had a knife on him, saying “I’m not going to lie to you...” That kind of rapport is invaluable, and in this case, the combination of a Crime Stopper tip and SJPD credibility probably saved lives.
Our police department may not be perfect. There is always room for improvement. But improvement can only come through open and honest dialogue. The San Jose Police Department has endured an assault of criticism in the past year. Unfortunately, the few constructive recommendations to emerge from the controversy have been lost in what can only be categorized as a witch hunt.
It is time we recognize that we have a professional and dedicated police department that works hard to serve our community. Eroding their credibility will not make us safer. It will only make it harder for the police to protect our great city and may compromise the continued success of programs like Crime Stoppers.
We like to say, “Crime Stoppers works because of you!” It is with all confidence that I say Crime Stoppers would not work without the San Jose Police Department.
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