Crime Stopper philosophy

In the mid-1970s, after an especially vicious round of vandalism and sex crimes in the valley, I worked with Don Hossack of the Kalispell police and Jim Mitchell in the Sheriff’s office to start the Flathead Crime Stoppers program.

With the help of Sam Bibler and others, we raised over $2,000 in seed money to pay rewards to people who helped the law crack down on drug pushers, child molesters, murderers, rapists and thieves.

Since then, the Flathead County Crime Stoppers program has become the most successful in the state, resulting in arrests and conviction of many dangerous criminals, while recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stolen goods.

It took time for the public to catch on to the idea but they did; however, in early 1982, I became irate with state press foolishly undermining what part of “Crime Stoppers” was all about. This is part of what I wrote 30 years ago:

———

In the dictionary, “snitching” is “criminal slang” and denotes “turning informer — usually used with the word on.” From the verb came the noun “snitch,” meaning a crook who tells on another crook. In using the word correctly while reporting a criminal story in the media correctly, snitch is a criminal word, used by criminals. A good reporter will not use this word except in that sense, i.e., a name one crook calls another. Straying from this usage in professional writing is to become an ally of the criminal culture.

The Montana press illustrated this exercise in a disgusting form during the big prison riot at Deer Lodge, where five inmates were murdered. Too many fellow reporters ignorantly contributed to the situation by joining the killers in labeling the murder victims as “snitches.” By doing so, they gave credence to rantings of the worst convicts in maximum security. As far as I was concerned, those reporters unknowingly abetted riot leaders. If reporters are going to use criminal jargon for inmates who cooperate with the law, they ought to at least invest in a dictionary and use it.

Before going on the air during the riot, I had to rewrite amateurish AP stories to eliminate wrongful use of the word “snitches.”

Maybe they’ll never learn. On the 10th of this month, the AP had a story saying a sheriff in Sanders County was running “snitch coupons” in the newspapers. The reporter who wrote the story probably thinks he or she was being witty using the term “snitch coupons,” but I call it gross ignorance, which again plays into the hands of the lawless.

Sheriff Alexander was desperately running ads asking the citizenry to help him gather information on drug pushers — nothing more. It would be interesting to get the reporter of that story in front of Sanders County people and ask him to explain his motives for making it look like anyone helping the law catch drug pushers is a “snitch.” Somehow, certain people have gotten the idea it is a sneaky or shameful to turn in evidence or testify against crooks. That idea is bad.

In the mid-1980s, there was a cold-blooded shooting in downtown Kalispell. I had to step over the victim’s blood on the sidewalk but was able to get a witness’ description of the shooter and his stolen car. I immediately broadcast those descriptions over the radio. A logging truck driver near Marion heard my broadcast and then saw the suspect turn up the Ashley Lake Road and radioed the sheriff.

It hurts to think there are citizens, let alone reporters, who might call that logger a snitch.

———

Note: People in the Flathead have learned much about helping each other by helping law enforcement since the 1970s. Let’s keep it up by supporting Crime Stoppers.

G. George Ostrom is a national award-winning Hungry Horse News columnist. He lives in Kalispell.