* Members of the media who wish to attend the award presentation can contact BPDMedialine@cityofboise.org for additional details.
On Wednesday, March 8 the Boise Police Department will recognize and award Interfaith Sanctuary Shelter Director Maranda Jay for her willingness to help investigators stop a traveling group of criminals who were targeting a vulnerable population in our community and attempting to defraud financial institutions across the Treasure Valley.
“This type of criminal activity can be difficult to track down, but this operation was successful because of the strong relationships members of this department have built with our community partners,” said Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar. “Our officers are working each and every day alongside dedicated people like Maranda to help protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”
On February 23, Jay learned about individuals in the area of Interfaith Sanctuary who were attempting to recruit people to cash checks. Criminals will often target those experiencing homelessness in our community by offering them money to cash checks, but the checks are part of a larger fraud scheme. These criminals take advantage of the person experiencing homelessness, forcing them to take the blame and be exposed to arrest and prosecution if they are caught.
Recognizing the situation, Jay worked with others at Interfaith Sanctuary to review video to find a white Dodge truck involved with this activity. Jay immediately reported this to the Boise Police Department, providing a description of the activity and an image of the vehicle. Thanks to the information provided by Jay, Boise Police detectives with the support of surrounding agencies were able to locate and arrest two suspects from the east coast who traveled to Boise to commit fraud by victimizing those experiencing homelessness in our community.
We thank Maranda Jay for her quick actions and her dedication to the protection of all residents of the City of Boise.