Few claim reward money

I'm still recovering from all the food yesterday and I bet you are too. I hope you had a good holiday. Just a little observation. On the way in to work this morning, I spotted a line snaking halfway around Fry's in Woodland Hills, eager holiday shoppers who braved standing in chilly temperatures overnight for first dibs on HD TVs, no doubt. A news chopper hovered overhead documenting the action. I can't wait to get mine. You'd have to pay me to stand in line.

Back to work today. The Times had an interesting piece about the low number of claims made on the rewards offered by police for information in unsolved crimes. Fewer than 10 percent are given out. latimes.com

I did a similar story in 2004 (below) under the headline 'Silence is its own reward.'

Sixteen days after Naif ``Nick'' Sahoum was gunned down in a stickup at the Lankershim Mini Market in North Hollywood, police posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to his killer.

There have been no takers in the three weeks since it was offered.

This comes as no surprise to Los Angeles officials, who in the last five years have offered nearly $8.4 million for help in solving 337 crimes, but paid only $533,500 as rewards in just 21 cases - most of them homicides.

``Usually, a reward is a last resort,'' said LAPD Detective Mike Coffey of the North Hollywood Division, who solved the March 1999 murder of Andres Munoz Castillo based on an informant's tip spurred by a $25,000 reward offer.

``When it pays off - probably only one out of 10 times - it's very gratifying. It's welcome news. No matter what it takes to solve a case, whether it's a reward or not, most of the time, we can't do it without the help from other people.''

Although information provided by a tipster has resulted in convictions in just 6 percent of the cases in which a reward was offered, detectives and city officials say the money often is their last hope in solving a case that has gone cold.

``In most cases, you know that the money is not going to matter,'' said Detective Rick Swanston, of the Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Division, who in his 22 years has only seen reward money paid out in one murder case.

``You've got to try it anyway. The chances are, the money isn't going to be what pushes somebody over the edge. But there's always a chance it could.''

To help persuade more informants to come forward, the City Council voted in June to increase the reward from $25,000 to $50,000 for homicides, rapes, robberies, hate crimes and other serious offenses. The reward for shootings at police officers was raised to $75,000

It's too early to say what effect the increase will have, but one critic believes it won't have much.

``It doesn't make any difference what amount of money you wave in front of their faces,'' said Gilbert Geis, an emeritus professor of criminology at the University of California, Irvine. ``It's not the amount of the money; it's the strength of the impulse to turn somebody in.''

The typical reward offer is good for 60 days but can be renewed. The amount paid out depends on the quality of the information, and whether it leads to a conviction in the case. Police officers, news reporters and accomplices in the crime cannot receive rewards.

The City Council determines how much the informant ultimately receives.

``There doesn't have to be a conviction to receive the reward,'' said Detective Jim Dawson of the LAPD's Investigative Analysis Unit, which coordinates reward offers with detectives and the City Council.

``We can't control what a jury will do. They can be anonymous. If they want to keep their information confidential, we will keep them confidential.''

City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant, said the city will do whatever it needs to get information to solve serious crimes.

``We're looking for justice,'' he said. ``We know that there's at least one witness to most crimes. We have to somehow bring these witnesses forward.''

But many witnesses do not come forward - reward offer or not - out of fear, intimidation or the stigma of being a snitch.

``Nine times out of 10, I don't get any results from rewards,'' said Detective Luis Romero, of the 77th Division's homicide unit. ``One time I had a guy who came forward but didn't want to go to court. He didn't want to be a snitch. Without his testimony, there was no way that case would be prosecuted.''

Mayor James Hahn called on witnesses to stand up to the crime running rampant across the city. He believes that increasing the amount of the reward offers bolsters crime fighting efforts to take back the streets.

``Increasing rewards tells our community partners that the city of Los Angeles appreciates their courage and conviction to make our neighborhoods and our police officers safer,'' he said.

Police have high hopes of solving the fatal shooting of Sahoum, who was killed June 29 by a long-haired white man in a baseball cap. The slaying was captured by a surveillance camera in his store.

Officials have publicized a blurry image from the surveillance video and hope the reward will convince someone who knows the suspect to come forward and identify him.

``The pain will never go away,'' said Zaher ``Jeff'' Hawara, 39, Sahoum's friend and co-owner of the Lankershim Mini Market. ``Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money. It will help. I'm not saying it will solve the problem. But I'm pretty sure it will help.''