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704-484-1047 www.shelbyinfo.com Our 40th Year • Issue No. 15 • April 13, 2023 "In GOD We Trust" We Appreciate Your Business and We Are Here to Serve You. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! MON.-SAT. 10am-10pm • SUNDAY 11am-10pm DQ.COM DQ.COM 814 S. DEKALB ST. • SHELBY, NC 704-482-6681 704-482-6681 ¤ဠ£ဘ ¤ဠ£ဘ Blizzard Blizzard of the of the Month Month S'mores S'mores ª ª Backyard Backyard Bacon Ranch Bacon Ranch Signature Stackburgers Signature Stackburgers 1/3 lb. Double 1/3 lb. Double or or 1/2 lb. Triple 1/2 lb. Triple With House-Made Hidden Valley Ranch, Honey BBQ sauce, crunchy onion rings, melty white cheddar 224 South Lafayette St., Shelby, NC 704-600-6038 Challenge Challenge KC on KC on having your having your size! size! Western Gear and Gifts Mon.-Sat. 11:00am - 7:00pm by MICHAEL E. POWELL CF Media michael@cfmedia.info An important Cleveland County crime deterrent, dor- mant since 2017, is set to start back up, according to Cleve- land County Crime Stoppers, Inc. Chairman Jeff Yates. As for what happened to the previous iteration, Yates said, "We haven't found a real reason it faded away, but it ab- solutely did. Board members terms expired and no activity happened that we found finan- cially either." Yates continued about the new start-up for the organiza- tion, "Retired Shelby (Police) Chief (Jeff) Ledford, and now Interim Chief Brad Fraser, had a desire to see the program revitalized as an important tool in the ever-present need to connect the public with police in solving crime. It is impor- tant to note that the Cleveland County Crime Stoppers, Inc., is a Cleveland County organiza- tion, not just a Shelby one." Said Yates, "The call cen- ter has always been Shelby Police; however, the program serves all of Cleveland County. Our law enforcement agencies include the Cleveland County Sheriff's office, Shelby Police, Kings Mountain Police and Boiling Springs Police. And fortunately, all our law enforce- ment agencies are on board. We invite and have officers at our board meetings for input. In addition, our official law enforcement liaison is Detec- tive Brad Benson who, per our by-laws, is a voting member of Crime Stoppers. All input from them is highly valued." Regarding the call center technology, Det. Brad Benson, who is also the Crime Stop- pers, Inc. Law Enforcement Coordinator, noted, "In previ- ous years, prior to the fading of Cleveland County Crime Stoppers in 2017, Shelby PD dispatch were the base cen- ter of all tips that were called in through the Crime Stoppers tip line. The tips were written down on a form and provided to the Investigative Lieutenant. The tip was then disseminated to the appropriate law enforce- ment agency for investigation." Benson continued, "Fast for- ward to 2023; technology has rapidly advanced and during the revamp process Jeff Yates and I realized that the process of obtaining and disseminating tips was very outdated. This sparked us to immediately find and adapt to the new techno- logical ways of handling tips. At the Crime Stoppers Confer- ence back in September 2022 we were presented with a very popular tip management sys- tem known as P3 Tips. We have since recently purchased P3 Tips for our program." Detective Benson said P3 Tips is a mobile app that is available as a free download, either through Apple's App Store or Google Play. Said Benson, "If the tipster elects to use P3 Tips to pro- vide their tip, they are provided a 'Tipster ID' and 'Password' once they submit the Cleve- land County tip form. Once the tipster is logged in there are several cool features that are available to them. The tipster can add attachments (videos, pictures, audio files and docu- ment screenshots), and can also engage in a two-way chat dialog with law enforcement. Tipsters can remain at ease and be assured that they are completely anonymous." If a tip results in a reward payout, Benson, as the Law Enforcement Coordinator, is responsible for providing the tipster information on how to retrieve their reward. "It is important to note that all reward payouts will be re- viewed/ voted on by the board and is based upon the Cleve- land County Crimestoppers re- ward scale," he added. "On the law enforcement side, we are constantly evalu- ating our efforts on how to better engage/ serve our com- munity. The addition of P3 Tips is a tool we believe will help See CRIME, Page 9 Cleveland County Crime Stoppers, Inc. starts up after ceasing operations in 2017 The newly-formed Cleveland County Crime Stoppers, Inc. organization in the meeting room at the Shelby Police Department. L-R are: Interim City of Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser; Law Enforcement Coordinator, Det. Brad Benson; Chairman Jeff Yates; and Jeff's wife, Mrs. Cheryl Yates. The new Cleveland County Crime Stoppers, Inc. organization founding members outside the Shelby Police Department in Uptown Shelby are – L-R: Law Enforcement Coordinator, Det. Brad Benson; Interim City of Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser; Chairman Jeff Yates; and Jeff's wife, Cheryl.