Schools Cash In on Rewards for Crime Tips

Deeply ingrained in the student code, perhaps ever since the first teacher convened the first class, there is an unwritten law: Thou shalt not snitch on thy classmates. But there are signs the rule has eased since drugs and firearms became more important than homework.

High school authorities in the Antelope Valley report they have handed out nearly $1,000 in $25 rewards since November to students who turned in 38 of their classmates who were subsequently arrested on suspicion of bringing drugs or weapons to class. Authorities actually received well over 100 tips, although only 25% led to arrests.

The rewards were paid to student informants under Zero-Tolerance, a controversial cash-for-crime-tips program that began in mid-November.

More than half the students were arrested on suspicion of drug possession or sales, and student tips also led to the seizure of five handguns in the five-campus Antelope Valley Union High School District, authorities said. In the most recent incident, a student at Quartz Hill High School was arrested Thursday when he tried to sell a pistol at the campus, authorities said.

“It’s been very positive. . . . We’ve even had incidents where a number of students came in on the same report,” said Jay Clark, principal at Highland High School in Palmdale.

When the program began, many students said they would not jeopardize their lives by turning “snitch” for the $25 reward. Some spoke of gang retaliation, and others said they were skeptical, although authorities said they keep the names of tipsters confidential.

But principals said that has not stopped students. The money does not appear to be the only incentive; many are coming forward, genuinely concerned about safety on their campuses, the principals say.

The day the program began, a student at Littlerock High School was turned in for carrying a 9-millimeter handgun, and within a week, six student tips led to five arrests at the school.

Billy Pricer, the Antelope Valley school board member who came up with the reward proposal, said that although officials have no figures to compare, it is clear that an increasing number of students are coming forward since Zero-Tolerance was unanimously implemented by the school board.

“Desperate times require desperate measures,” Pricer said. “The general community and community leaders are elated over the idea.”

High school students in the district said they see tangible signs that the program is making their campuses safer.

“It’s gotten quieter (on campus),” said Chris Spear, a freshman at Palmdale High School.

“No one talks about drugs anymore,” he said. “They keep it real confidential. . . . That’s good because it keeps the school clean.”

Ozzie Arazm and James Deleon, both freshmen at the school, said that when they began attending Palmdale they saw peers showing off drugs and knives. Zero-Tolerance has ended such activity because students are afraid they will be turned in by classmates, they said.

“The students are tired of (crime), and they’re trying to reclaim their campuses,” said Dave Rich, director of pupil personnel services for the district’s administration.

The district has seen a 50% increase in expulsion hearings compared to this time last year, he said. Rich attributes the rise to the program. “Last year, we were hearing cases one day a week; now we’re hearing cases three days a week,” he said.

Cash rewards for student crime tips are a rarity in school districts nationwide. The Los Angeles Unified School District runs a campus-crime hot line for students, but callers receive no reward. But in Ventura County’s Conejo Valley Unified School District, a “WeTip” program offers rewards as high as $1,000 for information on students who commit crimes on or off campus.

And in Memphis, Tenn., the City School District instituted a “Weapon Watch” program early last year that gives students $50 rewards for tips that lead to weapons seizures.

However, not everyone in the Antelope Valley district is pleased with the idea. Some teachers question the ethics of offering students monetary rewards for turning in their schoolmates.

“We are teaching the students to be (paid) informants rather than good citizens who act,” said Dave Kennedy, a teacher at Quartz Hill High and president of the Antelope Valley Teachers Assn.

Kennedy has expressed continued opposition to the reward feature of Zero-Tolerance. Students should be taught to come forward with information without pay, because it is the right thing to do, he said.

But principals at the five high schools in the district said that the cash incentive is working and no teachers have approached them to protest.

“I think there may be some skepticism, but I don’t think that the cash reward has affected the ethics or the morals of students,” said Michael Dutton, principal at Antelope Valley High in Lancaster, where 10 students have been arrested.

“No matter how a child learns the lesson of responsibility, it has to be learned at some time,” Pricer said. “My feeling is that I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to keep the weapons off the campus and keep the kids safe.”

At the next meeting of the Antelope Valley school board, trustees will consider modifying the program to enable the district to award larger sums for more serious crimes. The $25 figure has been criticized by many students as being too low.

“(If we) get information that someone has planted a bomb . . . I think that individual should be entitled to more than $25,” said board member Bill Olenick.