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Scholastic Program Petersburg/Dinwiddie Crime Solvers is launching a Scholastic Program that is available to all of the middle schools and high schools within the Petersburg/Dinwiddie jurisdictions. All operations are controlled by a civilian Board of Directors, with the Police Department as a working partner. |
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| Students who participate in the program to form the Student Board are all volunteers and have designated advisors from the school faculty and from the regular Crime Solvers Board to guide them in conducting their activities. However, any student in the school can participate in the Crime Solvers program if they want to call the hot line at 861-1212 with information on a school crime or a crime in their neighborhood. Absolute anonymity is guaranteed to all callers. | ||||||||||||||
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The students do not attempt to solve crimes. As with the regular Crime Solvers program, this task is given to the Police Department Detectives, who work very closely with Crime Solvers under the direction of the regular Board of Directors, in that minor offenses/violations at the school are investigated by the SRO's and school administration. All crimes occuring outside the schools or major offenses (guns, selling drugs, etc.) at the schools are assigned for follow-up to detectives/investigators of the jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. There are numerous benefits that can be attributed to the Scholastic Program. Schools that have active programs have experienced a decline in thefts, vandalism, etc., and a noticeable improvement in attitude of the general school population has been observed. The Scholastic Program is viewed as a win-win situation. Students learn that they can make a difference in the world around them. They learn more about the judicial system, and the schools and neighborhoods benefit from a reduction in crime as a result of more people being aware of how to report criminal activity while remaining anonymous-and also possibly qualifying for a cash reward of up to $1,000. |
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