Evelyn Here,
with the an update on the Attorney General to fight crime and bring to justice futives on cold cases with the use the this third edition deck of statewide cold case playing cards.
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Bill McCollum
Attorney General
News Release
August 29, 2008
Third Edition Deck of Statewide Cold Case Playing Cards Unveiled
206,000 decks of cards to be distributed to county jail
inmates, state probationers
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE),
Department of Corrections (DC), the Attorney General’s Office, and the
Florida Association of Crime Stoppers again teamed up with Florida sheriffs
and police chiefs to create a new deck of statewide cold case playing
cards. The third edition features 52 of Florida’s unsolved homicide and
missing person cases. Beginning today, the decks will be distributed to
inmates in all 67 county jails and to supervised offenders reporting in
through the state’s 156 probation offices. Each card features a photograph
of the victim and factual information about the case.
“This is a creative and well-crafted approach to investigating some of
Florida’s toughest cases,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “I’m proud
of the collaboration between law enforcement agencies to put this program
in place. It’s worked before and we’re betting it will work again.”
There are approximately 65,000 inmates in the state’s county jails and
141,000 supervised offenders serving on state probation. By distributing
the cold case playing cards to offenders, law enforcement will reach
thousands of potential sources who may be able to provide critical
information about an unsolved case. Printing for the third edition deck
was funded through federal grant monies.
“We’ve already had two inmates come forward with information that solved
crimes in response to the Cold Case Cards initiative and I anticipate some
of our offenders on community supervision will do so as well. I applaud
this joint effort among lawenforcement agencies and pledge to help in any
way we can to assist in solving these unsolved crimes,” said DC Secretary
Walter McNeil.
“These cards have been immensely successful in generating tips and two
cases have been solved, bringing closure to the victims’ families and
friends,” said Attorney General Bill McCollum. “The Attorney General’s
Office welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with our corrections and law
enforcement partners, particularly on such a creative and important
initiative.”
A toll-free number for Crime Stoppers is listed on each card and offenders
in county jail facilities will be given access to a phone in order to call
in information. As with all Crime Stoppers initiatives, no identifying
information is obtained from the callers – they are free to remain
anonymous.
“People are often fearful of providing information on criminal activity –
especially in a prison environment,” said Florida Association of Crime
Stoppers President Steve Rowland. “Crime Stoppers is privileged to use our
existing anonymous call taking network in this valuable initiative. Our
greatest hope is to continue to gather the missing information needed to
bring closure to so many grieving families in Florida.”
“The issuing of the third edition of cold case playing cards is a testimony
to the success of this program. Distributing these to the thousands of
inmates within the jails and corrections facilities in our state exposes
the cases to an audience of people most likely to have come in contact with
these individuals,” said Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris, President
of the Florida Sheriffs Association. “This will provide an excellent source
of information to help law enforcement solve crimes. The Florida Sheriffs
Association is proud to be a part of supporting this effort.”
“The Florida Police Chiefs Association wholeheartedly supports this
creative and innovative program that provides visual aids and factual
information as a means to jog the memories of individuals that may have
information vital to these cases,” said Port Orange Police Chief Gerald
Monahan, President of the Florida Police Chiefs Association. “It is the
hope of our members that this program coupled with state-of-the-art
technology that was not available at the time of many of these murders will
lead to many more solvedcases throughout Florida.”
The idea for cold case playing cards originated in 2005 with the Polk
County Cold Case Assessment Team who developed a deck of unsolved cold
cases from the local area and distributed them in the Polk County Jail.
Within months, an inmate tip led to arrests in an unsolved murder. In July
2007, Florida developed two statewide decks of cards which were distributed
to 93,000 inmates in 129 state prison facilities. Two murder cases were
solved as a result of the statewide decks (James Foote and Ingrid Lugo) and
tips from the cards continue to be received regularly. The first and
second edition statewide decks were funded through the Crime Stoppers Trust
Fund which is administered by the Attorney General.
Florida was the first to develop a deck of statewide cold case cards and
distribute them in the state prison system. Since then, the concept has
been replicated by law enforcement and correctional agencies across the
country and internationally. At least 13 other local jurisdictions in
Florida have developed local decks of cold case playing cards in
conjunction with Crime Stoppers: Miami-Dade County, Jacksonville, Martin
County, Escambia County, Palm Beach County, Lee County, Tampa Bay, Pinellas
County, Manatee County, Leon County, Flagler County, Orange County and Polk
County. Numerous states, including Texas, California, Washington, Illinois,
Missouri and New York have implemented similar programs and are
distributing their own cold case playing cards in local areas. Australia
has also developed a playing card program based on the Florida model.
To learn more about the Cold Case Playing Cards initiative and to view
cards from each of the three editions, please visit
www.fdle.state.fl.us/OSI/unsolved. The public can purchase cards through
Priority Marketing at www.prioritymarketing.com.
For Further Information Contact:
Heather Smith or Kristen Perezluha
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001
Department of Corrections
Office of Public Affairs
(850) 488-0420
Sandi Copes
Press Secretary
Office of the Attorney General
(850) 245-0150
Steve Rowland
Florida Association of Crime Stoppers
(941) 812-1618
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Evelyn out.
