ASIS INTERNATIONAL HOUSTON CHAPTER

MEETING MINUTES: MAY 26, 2004

The luncheon meeting was held at the Renaissance Hotel. Chapter Chairman Mike Crocker CPP presided. 58 members and guests attended.

Opening prayer: Ron Little

Pledge: Mike Crocker

Committee Activities:

Newsletter: the next issue will be in June.

Treasurer: the report was distributed.

Certifications:

PSP: Ralph Swain announced the PSP exam is now computerized. He will be taking the test, himself, shortly. A new workshop will start next month.
CPP: the next review class will start in about 4 weeks

Houses of Worship: Lewis Eakins held second “brainstorming” meeting for his committee to plan some outreach strategies.

Golf Tournament: was held May 17^th at the Willow Creek Golf Course. We had 137 registered golfers and 126 actually played. We netted over $15,000, which is a 60% increase over last year and 114% increase over the previous year. We were able to complete 15-18 holes before being rained-out. We collected $1900 from the Silent Auction. Thank you to all those who worked so hard to make it a success.

Legislation: Dave Parker received a letter from Cliff Grumbles (TSPB) approving CEU credits for the luncheons. There is a sign-in sheet for receiving your CEU credit, which will be mailed to the TSPB. There is another copy for your renewal records.

Miscellaneous:

Jack Mack CPP is also a member of the Gulf Coast Criminal Investigators group. He invited his co-chair, Capt. J. Freeze (Webster PD), to talk about their group. The group consists of law enforcement and private security personnel who are responsible for investigations. A luncheon meeting is held approximately every 6 weeks at the Hobby Hilton. The group is supported by 25 corporate members. They have no speakers as it is strictly a forum to exchange information about on-going investigations. The next meeting is June 10^th. Informational sheets were distributed.

L.E. Award:

HPD Officer Emma Rodriguez, a member of the sex crimes division, was honored her skillful interviewing that led to a confession of a sexual assault.

Eleven months ago, a 12 year old mentally-challenged girl was dropped off at the local Boy’s and Girl’s Club by her stepmother. The child did not go directly into the building and wandered away and was picked up and accosted by a 6’4” adult male. He took her to his vacant workplace, a welding shop, and sexually assaulted her. She was able to get away from him and was missing for several hours. When found, she was distraught and non-communicative.

Officer Rodriguez worked with the child for three days to earn her trust and was able to get a good description of the assailant and the location of the assault. Officer Rodriguez then visited every business in the area looking for leads.

Coincidentally, another HPD officer was responding to a Crime Stopper’s tip about a suspicious individual and brought him in for questioning. Officer Rodriguez interrogated him and within 45 minutes, was able to gain a confession.

Officer Rodriguez was presented a plaque in appreciation of her professionalism, dedication and perseverance in tracking down this sexual predator. Officer Rodriguez was accompanied to the luncheon by her supervisor, Capt. M. Yates CPP.

SPEAKER: Kim K. Ogg

Executive Director, Crime Stoppers of Houston

Ms. Ogg is a former Harris County Assistant District Attorney and Chief Felony Prosecutor. She is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as a Specialist in Criminal Law and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Downtown. From 1994-1999, she developed and ran the City of Houston Mayor’s Anti-Gang Task Force, the only public policy office of its kind in the country. She is the author of the recently published “Texas Gangs: the Legal Handbook”. In 1998, Ms. Ogg received a national award from the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice for her work in the field of Criminal Justice.

Crime Stoppers’ mission is solving crimes through anonymous tips for cash rewards. Since Crime Stoppers began in 1981, Crime Stoppers tips have solved more than 21,000 felony crimes in the greater Houston area. Each Crime Stopper agency is independent and Houston is by far the most successful. Houston’s office averages 1100 non-drug felonies a year compared to Phoenix (150) and Dallas (150). It consists of an anonymous crime tip hot-line that is staffed 24/7. There are ten officers from several agencies that help take tips and weed out the appropriate information, as well as help establish the veracity of the information. It is the single alternative reporting tool in society. We rely on the public, witnesses and even criminals to help solve cases but many informants will not contact the police directly.

The program has now expanded to school settings. However, the school program also awards cash rewards for information on crimes in the planning stage in addition to those perpetrated.

Crime victims never think it can happen to them. It is a common threat, the same as terrorism. Whether it is your customer, your employee or a family member, a corporation can add to the community through its support of Crime Stoppers, a non-profit agency. The money raised goes directly to solving crime. Crime Stoppers will work with the police to help in the investigation. They have a good relationship with the media and can publicize phone numbers and pay for credible information. An example is the recent Rice Village case which got extended media coverage. A citizen actually carried the Crime Stoppers poster in her purse. She saw the suspect in a store and compared it to the poster, then discreetly followed him to the parking lot and wrote down the license plate number. She then drove to the local police department and the suspect was traced and apprehended. This demonstrates the power of public knowledge. The public wants to be warned and expects to be aware. Crime Stoppers has also become a news source for the lesser publicized cases.

They can also have a deterrent effect. After 9/11, there were over 60 fake anthrax cases reported on our city buses, costing Metro and HPD a lot of time and money to investigate. Crime Stoppers posted posters offering $25,000 for tips on this terrorist activity. Although no one was caught, the activity stopped.

Memberships have been expanded to individual levels in addition to the corporate levels. Membership applications were distributed and are available on our web site.

After a question and answer period, Ms. Ogg accepted a plaque in appreciation of her time and presentation.

Our next meeting is June 30. Our speaker is Charlie Pierce, President of LeapFrog Training and Consulting. Mr. Pierce, often called the “Father of CCTV” will speak on the digital implications of electronic security. Mr. Pierce, visiting from Iowa, will also be conducting training seminars in Dallas several days prior to our luncheon. Information on the seminars is available on our web site.