CrimeStoppers Board

While CrimeStoppers might be exempt from Open Meeting law requirements, it does have to report to the IRS. A reader noted, "All tax exempt entities have to file an informational tax return with the IRS (Form 990). It is a public document and the entity has to provide it to anyone who requests it."

Another reader sent me a copy of the Durham CrimeStoppers 2005 Form 990 (the 2006 version isn’t yet available). It contains a list of the organization’s officers and board of directors.

The chair is listed as DUPD director Bob Dean. The vice chair is Kent Fletcher, retired deputy chief of the Durham Police Department.

Dean Sue is a board member. So are businessmen Jim Thompson and Jim Carrington and realtors Pat Radack and Patrick Ellis. The board is all-volunteer.

In 2005, the organization paid out $28,800 to witnesses.

There is no evidence that anyone on the board knew of Cpl. Addison’s potentially libelous “wanted” document before the corporal issued it last March: indeed, it seems all but certain that board members did not know of Addison’s actions.

The board does, however, oversee Addison’s performance. If he refuses to speak publicly on his actions, the board should designate someone who will speak on the record about CrimeStoppers’ performance last spring. In addition, it seems to me that the board needs to think hard about whether having a coordinator who issues false public statements and then refuses to speak to the public conforms with CrimeStoppers’ mission of functioning as a liaison between the community and law enforcement.

To my knowledge, no one from the Duke administration has ever condemned either the “wanted” poster or the even more offensive “vigilante” poster produced by the potbangers (who combined Addison’s text with the photos of 43 lacrosse players). Indeed, the vigilante poster was one of the highest-profile acts of campus protest before the Group of 88 said “thank you” to protesters for “not waiting.”

Dean Sue’s presence on the CrimeStoppers board raises disturbing questions about her conduct last spring. At the very least, given the potentially slanderous nature of Addison’s poster, she should have disclosed her connection to CrimeStoppers to the lacrosse parents.

Hat tips: O.H., P.S., B.Y.