Crime Solvers

Crime Solvers in Prince George's County celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1999. Crime Solvers promotes cooperation among police, the community and the media to aid in closing unsolved crimes. Through the offer of anonymity, citizens are encouraged to come forward with information leading to an arrest and indictment. The program which is funded completely by local businesses, has helped in the closure of more than one thousand cases. These cases include murder, rape, robbery, and child abuse.

After recognizing the need for directed action against crimes often witnessed by high school students, the department and Crime Solvers implemented a student Crime Solvers Program. The purpose of the program is to reduce the occurrence of crime and arrest the perpetrators. This results in improvement in the quality of life in our schools and neighborhoods. Students who have information about a crime are encouraged to provide that information to a school administrator or school resource officer. They can also call the confidential tip line and remain anonymous.

This past fall, the Prince George's County Crime Solvers program began airing a television show called "Crime Watch." This show, which follows the format of "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries" profiles unsolved crimes that have occurred in the County.

Crime Watch is aired on the Public Safety Channel (Channel 69B), and runs every day for a month before a new show is taped. The cases change with each new show. Corporal Diane Richardson (PAO) coordinates the production of the show, along with other officers assigned to the Public Affairs Office and members of the Police Department's television studio.

"We try to profile at least one unsolved crime from each District Station and one from each unit at the Criminal Investigations Division. That way, our show is diverse. For example, on one show we profiled a story about over 50 incidents in which someone stole wheels off of luxury cars in the Bowie area, then we profiled a story about an assault in Hyattsville. during the same show we featured a story about several robberies in Oxon Hill and then we talked about a man suspected of stealing credit cards. We also try to profile at least one case from our Homicide Unit's Cold Case Squad. We also like to profile cases in which the detective has video tape of the suspects committing the crime or photographs taken from a surveillance camera."

Crime Solvers Board of Directors

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