Crimeline’s ‘Detective Barb’ uses radio and television to get results
Crimeline’s Barb Bergin goodnaturedly points to the culprit responsible for her “Detective Barb” persona.
“They did this to me. Real Radio did this to me,” said Bergin, 58, who became executive director of Crimeline in 2009, the day after she retired from the Orlando Police Department after 25 years.
Since she has sought listeners’ help on Real Radio 104.1, she has morphed into her “Detective Barb” personality. The former homicide detective has dressed up as Tinker Bell and a prostitute to raise money for Crimeline, a nonprofit that takes the public’s tips on criminal activity and offers rewards. It also assists 55 law enforcement agencies in six Central Florida counties.
When Bergin discusses cases on the sometimes rowdy “Monsters in the Morning” radio talk show, the Orlando resident talks in a frank manner you won’t find in a press release. Sample: “Look at this dummy. He didn’t put his mask up before he walked in to do this robbery.”
Playing along with Real Radio produces results. When Bergin started on the radio 12 years ago — she was then OPD’s Crimeline law enforcement coordinator — the line was receiving 4,000 tips a year. Within a few months, they jumped to 8,000, and the tips have hit 10,800 for the past 12 months.
“A lot of our listeners have called and helped with tips,” morning host Russ Rollins said. “She calls us a targetrich environment. We’re talking to common, everyday people.”
Bergin plays trivia contests with the hosts and joins their off-the-wall chatter before turning to the cases.
“I like helping the community,” Rollins added. “It’s good to leave a mark that’s a good mark along with everything else we’ve left,” he said with a laugh.
“Dirty Jim” Colbert, Rollins’ co-host, urges people to support Crimeline. “Spread the word,” he said. “You can do something a little more than just give money. You can actually make an impact by being aware.”
Bergin said it was quite a hurdle for her to go from being a police officer to begging for money for a nonprofit, but she learned to do it. “It’s very easy when you believe in the product,” she said.
Although Crimeline receives grant funding, Bergin said other money is necessary. She estimated that the group averages $150,000 a year in fundraising, with that money going toward rewards, the five-member staff, vehicles and office supplies.
She said she has gone outside her comfort zone to be “Detective Barb” and grown into the role. “I’m not that personality normally, but I understand now the value in it,” she said. “I’ve learned to use my voice for the right things.”
Yet Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, a longtime friend who rides motorcycles with Bergin, sees her story differently. “Barb has a giant of a personality,” he said. “It is her personality that allows her to get along real well with law enforcement agencies.”
Crimeline, which is usually called Crime Stoppers in other jurisdictions, was always a great program locally, Demings said, but Bergin took it to another level. He cited her passion, her creativity with innovative fundraisers — such as ZooDun-It and a chili cook-off — and her experience of being a detective.
“Since Barb Bergin has taken over as executive director, we have seen extraordinary results” in the numbers of tips taken and crimes solved, Demings added.
For the past 12 months, Crimeline said its work has resulted in 541 arrests, 693 cases cleared, $4.8 million in drugs seized and $386,048 in cash/property seized.
Crimeline board member Edward “Butch” Doyle said Bergin’s perspective and abilities are unique. “She picks up on little things that are needed to make the tipsters’ information usable and of use to people in the field,” he said. “She’s very direct, compassionate. There’s not a more fierce advocate for the victim.”
Bergin also has been taking her message to Foxowned WOFL-Channel 35 on Thursday mornings for four years. “I can’t think of a more passionate and driven person leading the anonymous tip line,” said WOFL General Manager Allyson Meyers. (The Sentinel has a content-sharing agreement with the station.)
The speaking comes easily because Bergin says she is the happiest she has ever been. She and her partner, Holly Salmons, president & CEO of Better Business Bureau serving Central Florida, have been together 12 years and have a 3-year-old child.
When she’s on the air, Bergin doesn’t carry a script. “It comes from the heart,” she said. “I understand from a detective’s point of view the value of what a tip can do.”
She talks to other media as well, and you’ll hear her talk about Crimeline’s 40th anniversary this year.
“For 40 years, we’ve kept our tipsters anonymous. That’s why they call us,” she said. “We only pay out between 30 and 40 percent of our rewards. We know this nationally that people call the Crime Stoppers program for anonymity, not money.” (For the past 12 months, Crimeline has paid out rewards worth $168,685.)
She praises Real Radio for helping the cause.
“They’ve given us a presence in the community,” she said. “The community knows me now by the voice and the crazy things they’ve talked me into doing.”