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Sections & Units
Our Mission:
"To optimize public safety
in the City of Calgary"
Crime Prevention Unit
Community Crime Prevention Initiatives
Crime Stoppers: An Overview
What started as simple idea in New Mexico in 1976 has blossomed into the best-known community crime-solving organization in the world.
Crime Stoppers now has more than 1,000 programs operating around the world, including a very successful one here in Calgary. January is designated Crime Stoppers month around the world.
Started in 1982, Calgary Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization led by a board of citizens. Since its inception it has received 27,292 tips resulting in 4,287 arrests, clearing 10,029 cases, the recovery of more than $11 million in stolen property and the seizure of nearly $72 million in illegal drugs.
"It's an important program that the Calgary Police Service is very pleased to be affiliated with," says Chief Jack Beaton.
"Tips from the community can be the turning point in an investigation. Crime Stoppers is a vital link between the police and those citizens who know something but may be afraid of coming forward," he says.
The basic premise of Crime Stoppers is providing anonymity to people with information about a crime. A caller is only identified by a number - neither the call taker nor the police ever learn their name. Cash rewards are offered in cases where a tip leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect. In 2001 Calgary Crime Stoppers paid out $32,400 in rewards and has paid nearly $658,000 in rewards since 1982.
The organization receives no government funding and all of the reward money is generated through fundraising efforts, says Detective Colin Adair, head of the Calgary Police Service Crime Stoppers Unit.
The success of the program is rooted in a unique three-way partnership. "Without any one of those partners - the community, the police or the media - there would be no program," Detective Adair says. "The media is instrumental in helping us publicize the Crime Stoppers program, tip telephone number and the unsolved crimes where we are looking for help from the public."
To report a tip to Calgary Crime Stoppers, call toll free at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
For more information on the Calgary Crime Stoppers program visit its Web site at www.calgarycrimestoppers.org.
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