LUBEC - Civil
rights teams at Lubec Consolidated School have become the
first organizations in Maine to benefit from a reward
program established by a Web-based group called Dads and
Moms Mad About Drug Dealers.Sandie Newman, a Brewer woman
involved with the group, known as DAMMADD, presented a
$250 check on Tuesday to Beverly Pope, a sixth-grade
teacher and one of two advisers to the Lubec civil rights
teams. Steiner operates an Internet site where people can leave tips about alleged drug dealers. He then forwards the information to a cooperating law enforcement agency - in this case, the Brewer Police Department - and the organization assures the tip gets to the appropriate police organization. Washington County Sheriff Joseph Tibbetts said Lt. Michael Riggs and Sgt. Michael Crabtree - his department's two drug specialists - developed the case against Leon E. Clark, 42, of Lubec. Clark was indicted last July for trafficking in OxyContin. He pleaded guilty to the charge on Oct. 1, 2002, and was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison and four years probation. Clark's conviction is one of 21 that DAMMADD credits to the 926 tips the program has received since May 2001, according to the group's Web site. Tips that lead to convictions earn cash rewards for the tipster or - in the case of anonymous tips - the community. DAMMADD's tip about Clark was anonymous, so the reward was to a community organization. Riggs said he wanted a wide range of students to share in the award, and Scott Porter, Lubec's superintendent of schools, chose the civil rights teams because they are new programs. Pope and Shanna Wheelock, Lubec's high school art teacher, are advisers to the middle school and high school teams. They say their groups have concentrated on bullying in the school - including conducting a survey to determine the areas of the school where bullying is likely to take place. Pope said the middle school students are working with the younger children this year on issues of self-esteem and how people treat one another. The high school students made and sold "ethnic-style" bracelets at a local craft fare, and both groups are going to an overnight conference in Augusta in April with other civil rights teams from across the state, Wheelock said. The money will help pay for that trip, they said. Riggs and Crabtree both praised DAMMADD's Web site, saying that people are more comfortable giving information over the Internet than by phone, where they think their number is being traced or that law enforcement officials will recognize their voice. Tibbetts said law enforcement agencies visit an area different from the tipsters and all Steiner provides them with are the facts - the name and address of the person being reported and whether or not the tipster feels the person is distributing drugs. Newman said tipsters also could get a "fictitious" Web site from Yahoo or DAMMADD that they can then use to communicate with the officers. Newman said she became involved with the program a year ago, when her 30-yeaer-old son called her from the Brewer Police Department to say he'd been arrested for stealing. He didn't make enough money at his job to support his drug habit, she said. Her son will graduate from Penobscot County Adult Drug Court next month, she said. "This affects us all," Newman said. "My son had a second chance. Steve Steiner's son didn't." For more information or to leave a tip, contact www.dammadd.org or call 1-866-DAMMADD. |