FBI seeks public's help via Times Square billboard

[demoleft]

NEW YORK – Tawan Hines has his name in lights on Broadway. Instead of bringing him fame, it could get him arrested.

The drug-trafficking suspect is among the first fugitives to have their names and mug shots on a digital billboard in the heart of Times Square. The FBI unveiled the equivalent of giant, flashing wanted posters there for the first time Friday, hoping to generate tips from tourists and others who flood the "crossroads of the world" each day.

"We hope we'll get a few calls about him," Belle Chen, head of the criminal division of the FBI's New York office, said as Hines' face filled the screen.

Clear Channel Outdoors offered the space to the FBI following a pilot program in Philadelphia that led to two arrests. The billboard sits above the entrance to the W Hotel, surrounded by lower-tech billboards advertising Broadway musicals.

ap, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_re_us/us_fbi_fugitives_billboard

[TheWraith]

1. This is just a little too 1984 for my comfort, really. nt