Illinois State Crime Stoppers Association Information

President's Letter

Hello again fellow Crime Stoppers and visitors. My last letter was post 2009 State Conference and a lot has happened since then. I had the honor to attend and participate in a tribute to Dr. Ken Camp who is one of the founders and has been the back bone of the Illinois State Crime Stoppers Assn (ISCSA). Held in Peoria, it was one of the greatest events I have ever attended. Dr. Camp was appropriately named “Mr. Illinois Crime Stopper”. I also attended and participated at Decatur Area Crime Stoppers’ 25th anniversary celebration. Congratulations to a very successful program. I also attended a surprise celebration in Champaign. Long time president of Champaign County Crime Stoppers, John Hecker received the ‘Citizen’s Achievement” award from the FBI. Congratulation to John for a well deserved award.

In my last letter I mentioned the officers of the ISCSA; vice president Steve Meyer, Secretary Dave Lawrence, and Treasurer Mike Predmore. The ISCSA has an excellent group of dedicated board members that contribute so much to the association. One in particular I will mention in this letter is Don Gustin (Peoria Area Crime Stoppers) who contributes an enormous amount of time and hard work to the State Assn. Don is our Statistician and our Webmaster. As statistician he records and updates information from over 60 programs in the state, keeping track of such things as: contact information for board chairs/presidents and board members, statistics (code numbers issued, cases solved, arrests made, rewards paid) for all reporting programs, and their donations to the ISCSA. Don also keeps and updates information on each of the Board of Directors and committees they serve and chair. Not only is Don the keeper of all this, he physically brings the updated information to each State Board meeting for each board member. As Webmaster Don Gustin helped design and continuously updates our state website (www.illinoiscrimestoppers.org). The site contains a huge amount of information including the State Association’s mission and purpose, bylaws, history, accumulated state wide statistics, and much more. It also lists all Crime Stoppers programs within the state, their web site, if they have one, and whether or not they are a State Certified program. Our website is designed with different access areas so that local participating programs can submit their stats and update their local board information on line. Don also has always volunteered to handle all awards and plaques that are presented at the State Conferences and other special occasions. So, when you see Don and other board members, thank them for all they do.

Please browse our web site and those of other programs listed. Also feel free to contact the State Association or other programs with questions comments or information so that we can benefit from each other’s experience and knowledge.

May you all enjoy the holiday season and hope to see you at the 2010 conference in Champaign.

William E “Bill” Nation

President

Illinois State Crime Stoppers Assn.