Northeast Pigeon Drop Project: Combatting Crime with Community Involvement

1. NORTHEAST PIGEON DROP PROJECT KIM NOBLES

2. AREAS OF INTEREST • Statistical information in Edward Sector • What has been tried before to deal with this issue? • What constitutes the crime? • What Intelligence information exists on suspects and victims? • Can a plan be developed that would have a measure of success and who needs to be a part of the project? • Media Coverage/Public Education • Commander approval

3. ANALYSIS • Adult Development Theory • Attribution • Equity • Expectancy • Motivation Through Consequences • Job Redesign

4. ANALYSIS • Groups as Open Systems Model • Socialization • Group Development • Cohesion • Group Decision Making

5. RESPOND • NE Crime Analyst, Dollie Harris, discussed with me the need to address the pigeon drop problem. • I approached Commander Williams, who approved of the idea. • I met with Detective Nick Wright who agreed to investigate all of the recent pigeon drops that occurred North. Nick told me about Detective Tim Pruett’s work with pigeon drops.

6. RESPOND • Nick, Dollie, and I met with Tim to discuss his previous investigations and success with pigeon drops. • Approached NE Street Response new supervisor, Rory Clarke,and requested assistance. • Invited Violent Crime Analyst, Tess Sherman, and SPO Kelly Davenport to join our efforts.

7. RESPOND • Met with this group of employees to design a plan. The plan identified three major areas of concern: Intelligence Information, Operations, and Public Awareness. • Each member of the team was given tasks and responsibilities, and timelines. • I presented the plan to Commander Williams, who approved and supported the effort.

8. RESPOND • Tess began work on analysis of the crimes committed in North Austin. She created a spreadsheet and a map. • Nick and Tim began sharing Intelligence information regarding the various pigeon drop cases and suspects. • Nick met with Claire Dawson Brown regarding the elements of the crime.

9. RESPOND • I contacted various APD employees who have been involved in public education endeavors. • David Gann, APD Forensic Artist, drew composite of suspect from one of victim’s description. • Nick began information sharing with surrounding jurisdictions.

10. RESPOND • Utilizing Tess’s information, Rory created an Ops plan. • We conducted surveillance operations on May 2nd and 3rd. • May 3rd, we identified a lottery scam in progress and arrested three suspects.

11. RESPOND • Following the arrests, Detective Wright learned that all three suspects had false identification, including Venezuelan ID’s and passports.

13. RESPOND • Jumping for joy at actually catching bad guys for this elusive crime!

14. RESPOND • Follow through with the rest of the plan. • Conduct at least one more operation. • Conduct more research into victimology. • Identify venues to provide public education. • Work with banks to conduct training programs.

15. ASSESSMENT • Success during the operations. • Within next six months, implementation of the public education campaign. Meet with bank officials to determine if there is a need to develop a program to train bank employees. If so, then we will implement one no later than six additional months. • Assess the public education program on a bi-annual basis for two years.

16. ASSESSMENT • Expectation of pigeon drop stats to initially rise due to education efforts and encouraging victims to come forward. I will request the crime analysts to monitor these numbers for next year. • Request crime analysts to watch number of pigeon drops for two years to determine if the numbers then decrease. • Meet with team in six months to ascertain if they feel that plan has been successful.