extra labor costs incurred by the faculty advisor, if the additional labor time is not volunteered.

The law enforcement agency’s costs are few. The coordinator can fulfill most of the program-related tasks during duty time. The agency covers overtime and decides whether to pay for overtime or grant compensatory time. The agency decides whether to employ crime prevention or seizure funds to help the program with its material costs. Unfortunately, the agency possibly may incur wasted investigation time due to overzealous, inaccurate, or even malicious tips.15 Moreover, if the coordinator disregards the anonymity requirement, the agency potentially may expose itself to liability costs in court cases depending on state law. A defendant’s attorney may motion for full information disclosure to obtain the names of informants to verify their credibility.16 Finally, the agency should recognize intangible psychological costs, which adversely may affect the program’s effectiveness. These costs comprise the potential loss of privacy of students, parents, and faculty due to an investigation initiated because of a tip and can extend to the potential creation of an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion on campus.17

BENEFITS

The multitude of benefits of a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program far outweigh the anticipated costs, however. They accrue not only to the law enforcement agency but also to the campus administration and the student body. To the student body, a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program encourages school spirit, pride, and responsibility.18 It promotes a positive image of their school. The program can reduce rates of victimization for students, who can reap the intangible benefit of an increased sense of security, as well as reduce the fear of reporting an incident or a crime.19 When students feel that schools take steps to counter crime on campus, they develop a greater sense of control over their environment.20 From a practical perspective, actively participating students engage in a valuable extracurricular activity and learn how the board of an organization functions. Further, the program exposes the student body to the criminal justice system and the general crime prevention philosophy of today’s policing.21 The long-term benefit of this exposure can result in greater cooperation of students with law enforcement, even in these students’ adult lives. If students’ positive experiences with the criminal justice system translate into their homes, the long-term benefit of a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program increases substantially through the positive multiplier effect on students’ siblings and parents.

The campus administration benefits from a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program in several ways. First, the program enhances the school’s image and improves campus morale.22 Declining campus crime rates will enhance this result in the long run as well. Second, the program credibly publicizes the importance of fighting alcohol and other drug sales and use on school property. Also, it leads to a better working relationship with local law enforcement or campus police.23 Other more indirect benefits realized by the campus administration include a decreased risk of lawsuits due to crime, a corresponding increase in liability insulation for the administration, and a potential reduction of insurance costs.24 Finally, the program might reduce worker’s compensation fraud and the turnover rates of lower wage employees.25

© Mark C. Ide

The coordinating law enforcement agency usually finds direct benefits from this program. The anonymous incident and crime reporting characteristics of the program lead to a higher reporting rate, resulting in a statistical increase in the crime rate. The higher reporting rate gives a more accurate statistical picture of the quantity and types of crimes committed on campus. This helps law enforcement fight crime and prevent future offenses. A decrease in crime rates will result in a direct benefit over time. Further, tips emanating from such a program reduce the agency’s offense investigation time and can result in