In an effort to ramp up its fight against drug abuse among high schoolers, the Suffolk County Police Department is offering students cash rewards to turn in drug dealers, along with a new way to deliver those tips - anonymous text messages.
In April, police distributed posters to 58 high schools in Suffolk, seeking voluntary participation in advertising the rewards in the Crime Stoppers program. They say the initiative gives students a way to help keep their schools safe and free of drugs.
"We know that these drugs are coming into the schools," said Lt. Robert Donohue, the commander in charge of the Crime Stoppers program. "We want to know how. We want to know who's doing it, inside or outside of the schools."
While some schools have embraced the concept, the plan is causing uneasiness among some parents, students and school administrators. Some fear youngsters will face retribution from those turned in or that some false tips might stigmatize people wrongly accused.
"You shouldn't be bribed into being a tattletale," said Nicholas Gillen, 18, a senior at Smithtown High School. "I think students are here to learn, not to [betray] other students."
And Andrea Callan, director of the Suffolk chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, "The concern is turning our students into police agents."
Under the program, students are encouraged to call or text police if they know of anyone selling heroin, cocaine, marijuana or illegal prescription drugs. All calls are confidential, and students can earn up to $500 if the information leads to an arrest.
Mixed reactionSo far, the initiative has garnered 20 tips, most of them involving illegal drug use, said Donohue. He said a few tipsters called about vandalism.
None of the tips, Donohue said, has yet led to any arrests.
Theodore Fulton, principal of Newfield High School in Selden, said he liked the idea and a few weeks ago put the posters up in high-traffic areas such as the nurse's and guidance counselor's offices.
Fulton said four students inquired about the Crime Stoppers program.
"If they come forward, they fear retribution from the people who are dealing drugs or using drugs," Fulton said. "They're not that concerned about the money. Their number one concern is anonymity."
Superintendent Paul Casciano of the William Floyd district also endorses the program. "Anything we can do to stop the growth of substance abuse would be positive," he said. "People are very reluctant to talk. Sometimes they need encouragement and money might be that incentive."
But Edward Ehmann, superintendent of the Smithtown school district, said he won't display the posters until he discusses the matter with the school board and parents.
"My personal feeling is more information is better than less information," Ehmann said.
Donohue said the program is specifically geared to combating rising drug use among teenagers, particularly heroin.
In 2002, there were 151 heroin overdoses reported in Suffolk; that number more than doubled to 312 in 2007, according to police.
Protecting tipstersTo allay concerns about retribution for tips, Donohue said officers encourage students not to betray their identity by talking about it. They also urge students to notify their parents that they're calling the tips line. And the police will not go into the schools to investigate tips without permission from school officials.
"We will attempt to gather independent information, apart from the original tip," Donohue said.
Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, said the district attorney does not foresee a problem prosecuting cases in which the tips originated from a minor.
"By the time there is an arrest, there is sufficient evidence, in addition to the original tip, that a crime has been committed," Clifford said. "If there is useful information regarding illegal activity, it should be investigated."
Speshl J
05-05-2009, 12:44 PM
so you're offended by people snitching on dealers selling to kids?
digital kemical
05-05-2009, 03:20 PM
so you're offended by people snitching on dealers selling to kids?
im offened by the blood cot snitch society they have set up.
and yeah, i use to hustle in school. made some good money going to brooklyn buying up 5 dollar nick bags and sell them for $10 out on LI. Everyone loved me. But not to many people can do the things I did, I was like 16 years old going to bed stuy, east new york, chillin out there on the block..... 99% of these white kids on long island to be scared coming with me. but in their pussy ass white boy towns they think they the shit, but thats just me, I be in the hood, where people scared to go, but digitak kemical good!
im the sameway on the street as i am in jail or what ever my J
the moral of the story is, ummmm, you know, keep your mouth shut. I would have popped someones potato in school if they would have snitched on me. I was one of them um, bad kids. shit, I still pop someones potato.
now on text messages police can detain you and such? think special j, think, will they be able to storm in someones house over the text message tip of some fucking snitch ass kid in school? what about if someone is making more money then you and they get jealous, they start snitching. bla
with a name like special j, your ass should know better.
my ass was a kid when I use to do drugs in the clubs in NYC. bring me back to the old sound factory days. half them people in there dealing were pussy. once they got caught what they do? scared to go to jail so they started to work with police. I could start naming names, but thats a long time ago....
but recently the inky winky spider went up the woota spout, out came the snitch and washed the spider out.
I broke my head on jonnys bed, somebody snitched on me, you hear that new tony yayo song, ? im offical my dude. I still see snitches working on LI, they cant even stand next to me. im to offcial
And the police will not go into the schools to investigate tips without permission from school officials.
"We will attempt to gather independent information, apart from the original tip," Donohue said.
Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, said the district attorney does not foresee a problem prosecuting cases in which the tips originated from a minor.
jameznyhc
05-05-2009, 03:33 PM
i find it disgusting and immoral ..this snitch program needs to go .. fuckin lazy cops ..got nothing better to do than lock up kids for non violent drug usage in the first place is just plain crazy .. same goes for adults too .. time to decriminalize
eL FryEdo
05-05-2009, 03:40 PM
do you make balloon animals?
digital kemical
05-05-2009, 03:41 PM
do you make balloon animals?
no but I can light a cig off 2 batterys and a brillo pad
jameznyhc
05-05-2009, 03:42 PM
lol
eL FryEdo
05-05-2009, 03:43 PM
sickkk
Speshl J
05-05-2009, 09:23 PM
im offened by the blood cot snitch society they have set up.
and yeah, i use to hustle in school. made some good money going to brooklyn buying up 5 dollar nick bags and sell them for $10 out on LI. Everyone loved me. But not to many people can do the things I did, I was like 16 years old going to bed stuy, east new york, chillin out there on the block..... 99% of these white kids on long island to be scared coming with me. but in their pussy ass white boy towns they think they the shit, but thats just me, I be in the hood, where people scared to go, but digitak kemical good!
im the sameway on the street as i am in jail or what ever my J
the moral of the story is, ummmm, you know, keep your mouth shut. I would have popped someones potato in school if they would have snitched on me. I was one of them um, bad kids. shit, I still pop someones potato.
now on text messages police can detain you and such? think special j, think, will they be able to storm in someones house over the text message tip of some fucking snitch ass kid in school? what about if someone is making more money then you and they get jealous, they start snitching. bla
with a name like special j, your ass should know better.
my ass was a kid when I use to do drugs in the clubs in NYC. bring me back to the old sound factory days. half them people in there dealing were pussy. once they got caught what they do? scared to go to jail so they started to work with police. I could start naming names, but thats a long time ago....
but recently the inky winky spider went up the woota spout, out came the snitch and washed the spider out.
I broke my head on jonnys bed, somebody snitched on me, you hear that new tony yayo song, ? im offical my dude. I still see snitches working on LI, they cant even stand next to me. im to offcial
I'm really not making a point with the kid going to bk, bx, etc.. to get nickels to spin off to his friends as much as the guy pushing bigger and stronger on school age kids. But, I'm about 20 years past the days when I was running into th BX with my friends. Also, my name is just a nickname that had ZERO to do with what you refer.
It's funny how you talk about snitches. I've grown up with major people who did major things, but NONE of them were stupid enough to involve little kids in what they do. That's just wrong. Let me tell you something, let me find a punk kid selling smack to my kid, I wouldn't think twice about teaching him a lesson.
And I'm NOT talking about jealous kids ratting on each other. I'm really talking about the issue at hand and that's it. People are dealing with crack and heroin issues in SCHOOL, that's INSANE. I think when I went to school maybe a dozen kids were messign with shit like that. Also, if you think someone can break down your door based on a text message, you're wrong.
Again, I'm taking issue with the punk who tries to profit off the innocence of a kid. That's my point.
Speshl J
05-05-2009, 09:25 PM
i find it disgusting and immoral ..this snitch program needs to go .. fuckin lazy cops ..got nothing better to do than lock up kids for non violent drug usage in the first place is just plain crazy .. same goes for adults too .. time to decriminalize
you're missing the boat too. I'm supportive of legalization, b/c I think it would make the country money and end a lot of corruption. The issue here is hardcore drug use in school. How many kids you know who did heroin and crack in highschool end up really successful? I bet the rate is significantly lower than their counterparts. There still has to be age limits and rules even with decriminalization.
eL FryEdo
05-05-2009, 09:44 PM
you're missing the boat too. I'm supportive of legalization, b/c I think it would make the country money and end a lot of corruption. The issue here is hardcore drug use in school. How many kids you know who did heroin and crack in highschool end up really successful? I bet the rate is significantly lower than their counterparts. There still has to be age limits and rules even with decriminalization.
:agree:agree:agree
jameznyhc
05-06-2009, 01:07 AM
you're missing the boat too. I'm supportive of legalization, b/c I think it would make the country money and end a lot of corruption. The issue here is hardcore drug use in school. How many kids you know who did heroin and crack in highschool end up really successful? I bet the rate is significantly lower than their counterparts. There still has to be age limits and rules even with decriminalization.
justin your my age .. crack was as popular as xtc was in say late 90s.. in the 80s when we went to high school ..mad people smoked base ..it was fuckin huge .. we didnt even have xtc, k or g or any club drugs ..back then it was crack dust mesc and acid ..with coke and crack being most popular mad people were basin in the 80s ..its like the meth fad it took such a toll people quit after a year or 2 .. and a slim minority throw their lives away .. im no way condoning crack or dope usage (nobody i knew fucked with herion) especially amongst kids ..but i think kids today are probally ostracized for smoking crack where in the 80s everyone was smokin crack cause it was new and acceptable .. then as usual society corrected itself froom the negative toll and it died out ..IMO ..people can self regulate without loosing freedom..same reason we never see ambulances at clubs anymore ..people saw death from g and chilled the fuck out
and of course you need age limits and regualtion .. not sure id even want crack or dope or tina regulated but not criminalized ..cause it doesnt work
kids are doing dope today cause they getting hooked on oxys ..dope will kill oxy withdrawel ..kids arent afraid of oxys its a pill from a doctor in mommys medicine cabinet ..vs when i went to school the way to do dope was a needle ..so nobody fucked with it except hardcore junkies
Benny B
05-06-2009, 01:48 AM
justin your my age .. crack was as popular as xtc was in say late 90s.. in the 80s when we went to high school ..mad people smoked base ..it was fuckin huge .. we didnt even have xtc, k or g or any club drugs ..back then it was crack dust mesc and acid ..with coke and crack being most popular mad people were basin in the 80s ..its like the meth fad it took such a toll people quit after a year or 2 .. and a slim minority throw their lives away .. im no way condoning crack or dope usage (nobody i knew fucked with herion) especially amongst kids ..but i think kids today are probally ostracized for smoking crack where in the 80s everyone was smokin crack cause it was new and acceptable .. then as usual society corrected itself froom the negative toll and it died out ..IMO ..people can self regulate without loosing freedom..same reason we never see ambulances at clubs anymore ..people saw death from g and chilled the fuck out
and of course you need age limits and regualtion .. not sure id even want crack or dope or tina regulated but not criminalized ..cause it doesnt work
kids are doing dope today cause they getting hooked on oxys ..dope will kill oxy withdrawel ..kids arent afraid of oxys its a pill from a doctor in mommys medicine cabinet ..vs when i went to school the way to do dope was a needle ..so nobody fucked with it except hardcore junkies
Just a FYI, justin was in high school during the 70's
:chuckle
digital kemical
05-06-2009, 02:52 AM
drugs like dope, crack, and coke, I am against. because they addict the physical body.
drugs like acid, dust, xtc, shrooms are more of a mind drug, on a different level. I do not think everyone can take these drugs, you have to have a strong mind to use these. But they are not the same as the ones listed above.
we all expiremented with drugs in our youths, and can say, from personal expirence, some drugs are worse then others.
these days kids are popppin government made dope (oxy) which I am against. alot of people on this board done xtc, and there is a difference between xtc vs oxy. give the guy selling oxy more time then the guy selling xtc, in my book. thats from a former addicts view.
like during the 90s xtc was around, alot of people took them, played with it, and in the end left if. oxy will addict, and kill your pyshical. harder to put down then xtc, again coming from a former users point of view. I never did oxy.
if it was up to me, weed and xtc (real x) should be decriminalized.
in the end kids should NOT really use drugs though, adults should be able to.
drugs I used
weeed love it
xtc, great for sex
dust and k open the mind
acid is weird, government made
coke sucks because i could never fall asleep.
dope never tried, will never, same with crack.
GHB is bad news. but it made me horny as shit. alot of people died off it, RIP. I would never do it again.
cigs are the worst, and they are legal.
but this snitching shit is scary these days, its getting out of control. its just another way for them to invade privacy if you ask me.
Demz
05-06-2009, 03:06 AM
no but I can light a cig off 2 batterys and a brillo pad
:hitting :applaud i wanna see this!!!
drugs like dope, crack, and coke, I am against. because they addict the physical body.
drugs like acid, dust, xtc, shrooms are more of a mind drug, on a different level. I do not think everyone can take these drugs, you have to have a strong mind to use these. But they are not the same as the ones listed above.
we all expiremented with drugs in our youths, and can say, from personal expirence, some drugs are worse then others.
these days kids are popppin government made dope (oxy) which I am against. alot of people on this board done xtc, and there is a difference between xtc vs oxy. give the guy selling oxy more time then the guy selling xtc, in my book. thats from a former addicts view.
like during the 90s xtc was around, alot of people took them, played with it, and in the end left if. oxy will addict, and kill your pyshical. harder to put down then xtc, again coming from a former users point of view. I never did oxy.
if it was up to me, weed and xtc (real x) should be decriminalized.
in the end kids should NOT really use drugs though, adults should be able to.
drugs I used
weeed love it
xtc, great for sex
dust and k open the mind
acid is weird, government made
coke sucks because i could never fall asleep.
dope never tried, will never, same with crack.
GHB is bad news. but it made me horny as shit. alot of people died off it, RIP. I would never do it again.
cigs are the worst, and they are legal.
but this snitching shit is scary these days, its getting out of control. its just another way for them to invade privacy if you ask me.
cept for the dust... i pretty much agree with everything u said here..
Speshl J
05-06-2009, 09:43 AM
justin your my age .. crack was as popular as xtc was in say late 90s.. in the 80s when we went to high school ..mad people smoked base ..it was fuckin huge .. we didnt even have xtc, k or g or any club drugs ..back then it was crack dust mesc and acid ..with coke and crack being most popular mad people were basin in the 80s ..its like the meth fad it took such a toll people quit after a year or 2 .. and a slim minority throw their lives away .. im no way condoning crack or dope usage (nobody i knew fucked with herion) especially amongst kids ..but i think kids today are probally ostracized for smoking crack where in the 80s everyone was smokin crack cause it was new and acceptable .. then as usual society corrected itself froom the negative toll and it died out ..IMO ..people can self regulate without loosing freedom..same reason we never see ambulances at clubs anymore ..people saw death from g and chilled the fuck out
and of course you need age limits and regualtion .. not sure id even want crack or dope or tina regulated but not criminalized ..cause it doesnt work
kids are doing dope today cause they getting hooked on oxys ..dope will kill oxy withdrawel ..kids arent afraid of oxys its a pill from a doctor in mommys medicine cabinet ..vs when i went to school the way to do dope was a needle ..so nobody fucked with it except hardcore junkies again, i'm talking about being supportive of taking a hard stance against people who sell to kids. What you're saying is really just trying to argue a weak point. Your G argument is off. You know how many people I know how died or nearly died from G? Alot, and they were adults, not kids. Did they learn? no. A lot of kids CANNOT self-regulate. Anyone selling addictive shit to kids is about as low as you get in my book. Snitch away for all I care. Are there better ways to handle that? probably, but again, whatever. Also, it's not the 80's.. we know the dangers of crack, meth and heroin.... Also, my school really didn't have too many crackheads in the late 80s.
jameznyhc
05-06-2009, 09:48 AM
again, i'm talking about being supportive of taking a hard stance against people who sell to kids. What you're saying is really just trying to argue a weak point. Your G argument is off. You know how many people I know how died or nearly died from G? Alot, and they were adults, not kids. Did they learn? no. A lot of kids CANNOT self-regulate. Anyone selling addictive shit to kids is about as low as you get in my book. Snitch away for all I care. Are there better ways to handle that? probably, but again, whatever. Also, it's not the 80's.. we know the dangers of crack, meth and heroin.... Also, my school really didn't have too many crackheads in the late 80s.
well any adult who would sell a hard addictive drug to a child is no doubt a monster .. again even though im for decriminalization doesnt mean i would want drugs marketed like alcohol either .. just opposed to taking peoples freedoms away
I would argue the scene did self regulate cause i havent heard ambulance stories in the past few years .. people did learn
then again alcohol is a very addictive drug and physically addictive and people are pretty lax on teenage drinking like its a rite of passage
Speshl J
05-06-2009, 09:49 AM
oh and Dig Kem, maybe you're a lot younger than me, but I'm way way way past giving a shit about snitches for the most party. I'm 37 though and I've seen it all. I have had countless friends get snitched on and I've known a few snitches as well. We even had a narc in my high school (if you look at my yearbook, his picture was blacked out by the school all over the place, it's funny). I've always been of the opinion, you shouldn't be snitching on your classmates/friends, etc... HOWEVER, there are countless SCUMBAG people out there who I could care less if someone set them up.
Speshl J
05-06-2009, 09:50 AM
well any adult who would sell a hard addictive drug to a child is no doubt a monster .. again even though im for decriminalization doesnt mean i would want drugs marketed like alcohol either .. just opposed to taking peoples freedoms away
I would argue the scene did self regulate cause i havent heard ambulance stories in the past few years .. people did learn
lol people are still Ging out ALL the time. And the shit they use is like water compared to the shit that we had back in the day.
eddie_
05-06-2009, 11:12 AM
Digital kemical never talks he SCREAMS
Chill out and RELAX
digital kemical
05-06-2009, 11:21 AM
:hitting :applaud i wanna see this!!!
cept for the dust... i pretty much agree with everything u said here..
well, technically speaking dust and k are are the same 'family" of anesthetic made and created around the same time in the 1950's (MKULTRA PROJECT)
I never really knew until I tried but its pretty much the same high. Wierd how they put me in the same "place" but thats another story and thread.
oh and Dig Kem, maybe you're a lot younger than me, but I'm way way way past giving a shit about snitches for the most party. I'm 37 though and I've seen it all. I have had countless friends get snitched on and I've known a few snitches as well. We even had a narc in my high school (if you look at my yearbook, his picture was blacked out by the school all over the place, it's funny). I've always been of the opinion, you shouldn't be snitching on your classmates/friends, etc... HOWEVER, there are countless SCUMBAG people out there who I could care less if someone set them up.
only 7 years younger, but thats a diff. life is like high school, 4 years apart and already there is a diff in culture and they way we grown up. Its funny I see kids like from the 18-21 brakcet these days and they are more into prescription pills. One guy even has his girl hooked on oxy and she is not allowed to take xtc. she never has........ I said yo, you ever had sex on e, she like nah, im like scream at me when you aint with your man, hahahaha