Date of Release: 01-25-2007
Time of Release: 5:00 p.m.

Orlando Mayor Announces Illegal Gun Bounty Program-UPDATE

January 25, 2007—Orlando, FL—Last week, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer stood with Police Chief Michael McCoy, City Commissioners and community leaders to announce the Illegal Gun Bounty program—a citywide partnership with Central Florida Crimeline to generate leads for additional arrests and to get illegal guns off the streets. Last year, 73 percent of Orlando’s homicides involved a firearm, and this year alone, the first three homicides involved a shooting.

“We’re aware there isn’t a single answer to address the increased level of criminal activity, however we will take every opportunity to empower and engage our public safety personnel as well as the citizens of Orlando to reverse this troubling trend,” said Mayor Dyer.

All residents have to do to take advantage of the Illegal Gun Bounty program is:
• Call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS and anonymously provide information on a crime or suspicious activity.
• Information that leads to an arrest, a gun recovery and a weapons charge will result in a cash reward.
• All rewards and tips will be handled within the policy and procedures of the Central Florida Crimeline and its Board of Directors.
Citizens who meet those three requirements are eligible for a reward of $1000.

Last year, nearly 800 arrests were made as a result of anonymous tips from residents through Central Florida Crimeline. This new program is designed to engage the community as part of the solution to reverse the increasing trend of violent crimes.
In the three days following the announcement of the Illegal Gun Bounty program 18 anonymous tips were called into Crimeline and are currently being investigated by the Orlando Police Department.

“Even if the gun bounty program only saves one life, than this program will be declared a victory. It’s only if we can break this culture of silence and take action as a community that we will make positive progress and secure the safety of our neighborhoods,” added Mayor Dyer.

The Illegal Gun Bounty program is part of Mayor Dyer’s continuing commitment to public safety. In 2006, Orlando, like many cities across the country, experienced an increase in violent crimes. As a result, Mayor Dyer has committed additional resources to combat the rise in crime, including:

• The multi-year, $100 million Public Safety Initiative that increases the effective strength of the police officers by 11 percent with additional police officers patrolling our streets, new officers in the violent crimes section, two OPD sub-stations and a state-of-the-art, training center.
• Establishing the Safe Orlando Task Force that is comprised of community members who work in tandem with the Orlando Police Department to develop short and long-term recommendations to eliminate or reduce crime. This group broke into three subcommittees – Law Enforcement, Prevention and Reintegration--to tackle crime-related issues, and to help develop a strategic action plan using police, volunteer and community resources.
• Chief McCoy and the Orlando City Council have reallocated police resources, creating Patrol Tactical Squads (TAC). The TAC squads use a combination of plain clothes and uniform officers to aggressively confront, street level narcotics, violent crimes, and pattern crimes in each of the three patrol divisions. Since the implementation of the TAC squads more than 250 Felony arrests have been made and over 300 misdemeanor arrests. The squads also seized over $46,000.

“We’re dedicating every available resource to ensure the safety of our citizens, but this issue cannot solely rest on the shoulders of the men and women of our police department. We need citizens to get engaged, provide crime-related information and stand up for our community,” said Chief McCoy.