Silent Witness leads to 144 felony suspects arrested in Arizona in 2018
Jan 17, 2019, 4:08 AM
(Pixabay Photo)
(Pixabay Photo)
PHOENIX — A nonprofit organization that partners with Arizona law enforcement to find criminals led to the arrests of nearly 150 felony suspects in 2018.
Silent Witness helped identify more than 144 people linked to crimes around the state, including suspects in 11 homicides, 37 robberies and sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary cases.
“That’s an average of 12 felony arrests per month,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Jamie Rothschild told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday,
Two hundred and nine criminal cases were cleared by the arrests, 464 charges were submitted against suspects and 66 fugitives were caught.
Rothschild said some suspects even self-surrendered due to the coverage of the alleged crimes, but added that those arrests do not count toward statistical purposes.
“We say over 144 felony arrests last year, but the reality is more people were actually taken into custody because the social media posts pressured suspects into turning themselves in,” he said.
Silent Witness works in partnership with the Phoenix Police Department but pays out rewards to those who identify criminals using private donations and grants.
“We offer rewards up to $1,000. But the reality (is) probably less than half the people that are eligible for the rewards actually come and claim it,” Rothschild said.
