RB Buzz: Escambia Co. Deputy Jeff Van Camp, a 20-year veteran of the force, has been removed from the ECSO Crime Stoppers program.
Last year Van Camp and Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers Inc. won the 2004 Productivity Award for solving the most cases and recovering the most property and drugs in the Southeast region.
Crime Stoppers statistics
The tipline logged 4,770 calls in 2004, leading to:
- 337 arrests.
- 219 warrants.
- 730 cases closed.
In Sept 2004, Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers and the Pensacola News Journal won two international awards -best newspaper feature story and best newspaper public service announcements – for their joint efforts in helping to bring criminals to justice. The awards were presented at the international Crime Stoppers conference in Cincinnati.
In July 2004, the American Legion at its state convention named Van Camp its Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for the entire state of Florida. In PNJ article on the award, Sheriff Ron McNesby was quoted – “We win awards everywhere we go because of Jeff and his involvement in the Crime Stoppers program.”
For 2004-2005, Van Camp was the state president for the Florida Association of Crime Stoppers.
In May 2003, Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers was awarded the “Productivity Award for Narcotics and Property Recovered” at Southeastern Crime Stoppers Association’s annual training conference in Savannah, Ga.
Why was Van Camp removed? For filing a complaint that he had not been promoted to sergeant as he was entitled ….after patiently trying to work within the system. He’s now back on the street on the graveyard shift in Molino.
