Sheriff Wayne Ivey will never be mistaken for Vanna White or Pat Sajak.
(FOX)- And his weekly “Wheel of Fugitive” broadcast in Brevard County, Fla., posted to Facebook, isn’t a game contestants want to win, either.
But each Tuesday, a new fugitive is singled out for attention – based on the luck of the spin. Ivey’s “game show,” complete with flashy graphics and a rock soundtrack, has caught numerous fugitives – with some even turning themselves in.
“We want for them to do the right thing and turn themselves in,” Ivey said. “A number of them have, a number of their family turns them in. Usually within a very short 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.”‘
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,”‘ Ivey said. “They see the value of not only trying to get the fugitive off the street but engaging the community in doing so.”
Law enforcement has seen the value of social media in hunting for fugitives. “We have seen great saves all over this nation where individuals have instantly been reported as found by someone as a result of social media,” Marion County Sheriff Emery Gainey told Fox 35.