The LSU Police Department has had success making arrests after identifying possible criminals through University broadcast e-mails, and LSUPD is taking advantage of the method after impressive community response.
LSUPD compiles surveillance photos of suspected criminals or persons of interest in areas where crimes occur, and results have yielded a nearly 90 percent success rate, said Capt. Cory Lalonde, LSUPD spokesman.
Lalonde said the identification e-mails are used for any crime where surveillance footage is available. Nearly 300 cameras are installed around the University’s campus.
E-mails are sent out after LSUPD investigators exhaust all other methods of identifying a suspect, Lalonde said. At least four e-mails have been sent out this semester.
“This is just another tool to keep campus safe and solve crimes,” Lalonde said.
LSUPD will often send a broadcast e-mail when a person of interest is a student, and Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers is involved when the crime extends outside the University community, he said.
Involvement with Crime Stoppers has produced results with an almost 100 percent success rate. Lalonde said interaction with Crime Stoppers has increased in the last year.
These resources have been used more frequently because the return rates are high, he said.
“People are willing to participate, and they’re taking a stronger stance,” Lalonde said.
Lalonde said the success of the e-mail identification method relies on the community reporting what they see. Whether it is through a phone call or an anonymous tip, members of the University community can provide information that leads to arrests.
Miranda Moore, English senior, said when she sees the broadcast e-mails, she fears recognizing the suspect as a friend.
But the method is effective, Moore said.
“People are able to spot and know whoever is in the picture,” she said. “People like checking to see if they know the person.”
The e-mails are effective because they reach a large number of people quickly, said Eric Alexander, natural resource ecology and management sophomore.
“It’s a good technique, and [LSUPD] should use it as much as they can,” Alexander said.
Both Alexander and Moore agreed that broadcasting a suspect’s picture via e-mail is more effective than using television.
“Everyone gets e-mails. I don’t know anyone in my age group who watches TV news,” Moore said.
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]