Sheriff ’s focus on S.C.U.M.B.A.G.s nets arrests

For Sheriff Mike Chitwood, there are some criminals who only fit one appropriate description: scumbags.

Chitwood admits his fixation on the word started during childhood, when his father — a former law-enforcement officer — often used it to scare him out of problems.

“When I got into trouble, he would say, ‘You’re not going to become an effin’ scumbag!’ ” said Chitwood, who was sworn in as Volusia County sheriff in January.

But what started as a “tonguein-cheek joke” among Chitwood’s staff meant to make light of the sheriff ’s sparing use of “scumbag” has become a serious crowdsourcing strategy on social media to find people wanted for out-ofthe-ordinary crimes. It has become the colorful epithet for one of Volusia County’s most successful crime-fighting campaigns.

Since the end of May, from seven nominated S.C.U.M.B.A.G.s of

the Week, six have been taken into custody, said Volusia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Andrew Gant.

“We usually go through cases from previous days, and when we notice something ‘scumbag-esque,’ we run it by the sheriff,” Gant said.

In one case, deputies were searching for a man who stole a woman’s purse from another man’s vehicle while he attended a funeral: also referred to as the Sorry Case of an Unconscionable, Malicious Bozo who Abused the Grieving.

Another involved a vehicle and residential burglar — or Suspected Criminal Unconcerned with Morals or Basic Acts of Goodness. A third one was a Deltona man who groped a woman and was known to publicly expose himself; also known as Showing Customers Unwanted Male Bodily Appendages, and Grabbing.

Or S.C.U.M.B.A.G. for short.

Some of the suspects in cases discussed at Volusia County’s CompStat crime meetings — which are biweekly conversations about neighborhood crime-fighting techniques open to the public — might also make the roster.

“The effectiveness of it is tied to its colorfulness,” Gant said. “It’s not meant to humiliate anyone or call names — it’s to call attention to and close our cases.”

The sheriff says the goal, in the end, is to apprehend criminals, but to also make people aware of less violent crimes that can affect larger portions of a community, like petty theft and internet scams.

“We get tons of tips from people to come in,” Chitwood said. “Sometimes you have to make it a little more salacious.”

But the social-media campaign also has faced criticism for its approach and sensationalizing the crimes. Chitwood’s response? “If you don’t like to be called that, don’t do the crime.”

This creative strategy to catch criminals is popular. Earlier this year, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office began hosting what it called the “Wheel of Fugitives,” in which the sheriff spotlights a different person for arrest every week and uploads the video to Facebook.

Gant says the key to the Volusia campaign’s success is not just to use plain-spoken language — for which Chitwood is well-known — but to use language with which people can identify.

“We try to make it something that’s not written in cop speak. We don’t want to try to be funny, because we’re not comedians,” Gant said. “When we share this stuff, we try to use social media like a normal person does.”