Rewards are used to lure tipsters

CAPITAL REGION — Weeks after her son was shot and killed on Lincoln Avenue, Shawna Chandler-Dubois wondered if money might motivate the witnesses to Jerome Cannon’s killing to come forward.

“I don’t think it’s fair that my son died because somebody did something stupid,” Chandler-Dubois said at a gun violence event kicking off a gun buyback program.

Moments later, pastors behind the program stepped forward and offered a reward that now stands at $1,500 for information leading to the conviction of Cannon’s killer. Chandler-Dubois cried.

“They give rewards for dog violence. We can do this for a precious son,” said the Rev. Charlie Muller of Victory Christian Church in Albany. “We can send that message clear, that the city of Schenectady is tired of it. We’re not going to put up with gun violence.”

Muller has been the moving force behind a number of recent reward offerings.

Victory Christian Church offered more than $1,000 for an arrest and conviction in the killing of 10-year-old Kathina Thomas in May. That reward eventually grew to more than $20,000.

More recently, the church put up a reward for the arrest and conviction in the killing of 22-year-old UAlbany student Richard Bailey. The total reward, with help from the community, has now topped $18,000.

The state police PBA and other donors recently disclosed $100,000 in reward money was distributed to tipsters in the successful hunt for Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, wanted for killing a New York state trooper and wounding two others.

While rewards aren’t offered in all cases, police say they can be helpful in some. They also give individuals the chance to feel they’re helping.

But one observer questioned the usefulness of rewards, saying they result in questioned motivations and even false tips.

Then there’s the question of results and who gets the money. In the Phillips case, a lawsuit was filed on the way to a settlement.

In the Thomas case, no rewards were paid out because none of the information received was deemed vital to the capture of her killer.

community backup

“It’s helpful to police officers that they know that the community is behind them,” state troopers’ PBA president Dan De Federicis said. “One kind of backup is a patrol car coming from a mile away, the other backup is the community support saying ‘this is awful. We won’t stand for police officers being injured or killed.’ ”

In the Phillips case, a total of $350,000 was pledged to find the fugitive who shot and killed Trooper Joseph Longobardo and wounded Trooper Donald Baker Jr. in August 2006.

De Federicis confirmed that, at first, the PBA didn’t believe anyone was entitled to the reward. One tipster, they believed, was simply reporting a prowler, not believing it was Phillips.

A federal lawsuit was filed in November 2006 by a Pennsylvania couple who claimed credit for tipping police to Phillips’ whereabouts. Phillips was captured in Akeley, Pa. The FBI then offered part of its reward and the PBA followed.

The state police superintendent during the Phillips search was Wayne Bennett, now Schenectady’s public safety commissioner.

Bennett recalled that the reward, while not directly contributing to the capture, kept the case in the public eye through news reports and wanted posters.

“Every little bit helps,” Bennett said. “Seeing those posters out there, on television and radio, every time people see it or hear it, it makes them think again.”

Generally, Bennett said, rewards are reserved for the more serious criminal events.

The Schenectady department doesn’t offer rewards itself. But they welcome others who do.

Some departments directly offer rewards for high-profile crimes. The Newark, N.J., Police Department offers rewards of up to $2,000 through its Web site NPDMostWanted.com.

One of Newark’s most wanted was captured in Schenectady in October, with the help of Schenectady Police officer Dwayne Johnson. Johnson would not have been eligible for the reward as a member of law enforcement. Information, however, led Newark Police to believe the suspect was here. It was unclear if anyone was eligible for the reward.

Bennett said he doesn’t see Schenectady getting such a sophisticated reward system. The budget wouldn’t allow for it. But that wouldn’t stop the community from getting involved.

paying informants

Bennett noted, however, there is a formal program that allows for payments to be made to informants in specific situations. Every police officer can request money be spent, but approvals are extremely restricted and must be approved at the highest levels.

Bennett declined to detail the circumstances in which payments would be made, but he said the amounts are not large.

“You would hope you won’t have to rely on informants,” Bennett said. “But so many homicide cases are intertwined with narcotics trafficking.”

The issue of paying informants was one of the reasons four Schenectady police officers were sent to federal prison in 2002 over allegations of paying informants with drugs.

In addition to paying informants, Albany Law School professor Laurie Shanks included plea deals in the reward category. If someone is getting lesser charges or dismissed charges in exchange for testimony, that is a reward, Shanks said.

Rewards can also prompt false testimony. “What’s their motivation?” Shanks said. “It could be revenge.” In extreme cases, she said, the wrong person could be convicted.

“It’s expanding a problem that we already know about, jailhouse informants, to the public at large,” Shanks said.

The larger issue, she said, is in the public trust of police departments. If departments are trusted, Shanks said, the public should want to help them.

“A situation where citizens do not voluntarily come forward is a situation where people don’t believe laws are enforced,” Shanks said.

tips investigated

The Albany Police Department doesn’t have a systematic public monetary reward system either. But when rewards are offered by the public, spokesman Detective James Miller said police generally don’t get fake tips because the tips get investigated.

Rewards, he said, generally help on a case-by-case basis.

“We generally don’t get that person who makes something up and is misleading,” Miller said, “because that person won’t benefit from the reward.”

The Bailey case remains open and Miller confirmed that no tips have come in that he believes would qualify for the reward.

Muller’s church got involved in the Kathina Thomas case because the church helps feed kids in that neighborhood. “We can’t feed the kids if they’re dying,” Muller said.

The church has expanded its interests into gun buyback programs. A program briefly expanded into Schenectady in October until money ran out. Muller expects to start it back up after Christmas with new, private donations.

“We’re just really encouraging people to come forward with any information,” Muller said.

In Schenectady’s Cannon case, the 20-year-old was shot and killed Sept. 13 on Lincoln Avenue while participating in a dice game.

His killer has yet to be found. Bennett echoed the Albany situation, saying nothing has been developed that would trigger a reward.

“But as long as that’s out there, it’s another possibility for keeping it alive,” he said, adding later, “Money motivates, for good or bad.”