Crimestoppers all about anonymity

January is crime stoppers month, and the goal is to get word out: anonymity is the key to making the program work.

Local Crime Stoppers board chair Dave Andrews says there is a misconception in the public that a tipster has to testify in court or reveal their identity to collect their reward.

Tipster’s are given a confidential number when they call in, which they use whenever they call to update Crime Stoppers. No information on the caller is collected, so it’s up to the tipster to call back to see if the tip they gave led to an arrest.

If the tip turned out to be good, arrangements are made to meet someone from Crime Stoppers in a public place. The tipster is given a description of the person to meet, and gives the code number to the person. Once the money is passed over, they part ways. No names are ever given. Tipsters can even arrange for relative or friend to do pickup.

As for why people don’t come forward without anonymity, he says, “The biggest thing is fear of retaliation in some way.”

Crime Stoppers is based out of Halifax, staffed by Halifax Regional Police Officer and RCMP Officer. The rest of those involved with the program are volunteers.

Queens Co. has 10 volunteers and the Community Policing Officer for the county sitting on the board, and their role is to bring awareness to the community about the program and determine the payout based on the tips.

Payments depends on what the crime was, anywhere from $50 for petty crime to $2,000 for more serious crimes. Funding for the program mainly comes through corporate sponsors like Nova Scotia Power and Eastlink.

Outside of Crime Prevention month, the local group also runs the mock jail as a fundraiser, and will be holding a large BBQ on the waterfront later in the year.

The program is being used In Queens Co. as well. From June to August they had three payouts of various amounts. The hope is though that through by drawing attention to the program this month will encourage more people to use Crime Stoppers. “The more you get people using it, the safer the community will be.”

Crime Stoppers was started in 1976 in New Mexico, when Canadian born police officer Greg MacAleese was investigating a robbery/murder at a gas station. Although the area was well traveled, no one came forward with information.

After finding citizens both apathetic and fearful of retaliation, he devised a cash reward as an incentive for someone to come forward anonymously. a re-enactment was aired in the evening news, and by 8 a.m. the next morning the case was solved.

The program quickly took off, and now there are more than 1,700 programs in 23 countries worldwide.

Crime Stoppers can be contacted by phone at 1-800-222-(TIPS)8477, texting at TIP202 plus the tip to “CRIMES” (274637) or secure anonymous email at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca

nmoase@theadvance.ca