Spin the wheel and catch a crim, says cyber sheriff
ORLANDO Every Tuesday at 8pm, it’s time for Wheel of Fugitive in Brevard County, Florida.
Flashy video graphics shoot across the sheriff’s department’s Facebook page, accompanied by a rock soundtrack and a spinning wheel bedecked with 10 fugitives’ mugshots. Smiling, portly and bespectacled Sheriff Wayne Ivey spins the wheel, and hey presto – this week’s fugitive is singled out for attention.
For the past 18 months, Ivey has targeted one fugitive for arrest each week with a spin of the large green wheel.
‘‘Just do the right thing, turn yourself in, and we certainly appreciate it,’’ he said in a recent episode.
Ivey says the humorous gameshow approach has been successful. Many of the pictured fugitives have been turned in via tips from the public, and some have turned themselves in.
‘‘Usually within a very short YOUTUBE period of time their inner circle has alerted them to the fact if they didn’t see it, that they are on Wheel of Fugitive,’’ he says.
Ivey says the concept has been well received in the community of about 600,000. He judges the response by the number of Facebook comments and shares, and also by the comments he receives when out doing public speaking.
‘‘Hardly any place I go speak or I’m at somebody doesn’t say, ‘I watch the Wheel of Fugitive’. They see the value of not only trying to get the fugitive off the street but engaging the community in doing so.’’
He initially rolled out the idea, inspired by the TV game show Wheel of Fortune, during a speech shortly after he took over as sheriff in 2012. It got a warm reception.
Initially, the department offered what it called Turn Them In Tuesday. Each week it presented a single fugitive’s picture and asked the public for its help in pursing him or her.
Ivey says his fugitive division saw an 88 per cent success rate in removing suspects from the streets with that approach.
The division is working with the University of Central Florida’s sociology department to compile Wheel of Fugitive’s success rates.
Recently, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show made fun of Ivey and his wheel. Ivey, who prides himself on his sense of humour, didn’t mind, because of the attention it brought to what his department is doing to remove criminals from the streets.
‘‘That’s what we want. We want the community to be engaged and to help protect the community.’’ Reuters