Local Crime Stoppers wins international award
After its anonymous tips led to more than triple the amount of drugs and stolen property being recovered than the year before, Regina Crime Stoppers has claimed the organization’s top spot globally in productivity improvement for small cities.
In 2018, tips received by Regina Crime Stoppers led directly to the recovery of $587,700 in drugs and stolen property by the Regina Police Service (RPS), compared to about $190,000 in 2017.
This 208-per-cent increase put Regina Crime Stoppers in the No. 1 spot for productivity improvement out of all Crime Stoppers programs in cities with a population under 300,000.
“To get recognized for the work that we’re doing with such a sizable amount for property recovery and drugs seized is really big. We now have $11 million total (recovered) over the 35 years of Regina Crime Stoppers,” Craig Perrault, president of Regina Crime Stoppers, told reporters on Wednesday.
“It shows people that this system works.”
RPS Chief Evan Bray said he was pleased to see the organization he partners with so closely be recognized globally.
“I’m proud of them that they were recognized in this way. It was a significant year, there’s no question about that. Nearly $600,000 in drugs and property located directly as a result of Crime Stoppers tips, that’s a big feat. That’s something to be proud of,” he said.
One tip in particular turned out to be extremely helpful for Regina police.
Perrault said a single tip led to the recovery of around $400,000 worth of drugs or property. He said police had already been working on the case but needed the “final piece of the puzzle” that single tip provided.
Bray agreed. “Sometimes it’s one tip that can result in a very large seizure, and so it’s the right tip at the right time about the right person ... and that was the case for sure in 2018,” he said, adding that he could not discuss specifics of the case.
Bray noted the last few years have seen record-high numbers of tips rolling in, and Perrault attributes this to the community knowing that Crime Stoppers is a safe and anonymous way to leave a tip.
But the organization’s increased presence on social media and new P3 Tips app have also played a big role in encouraging people to leave tips, said Perrault. More and more people are using social media or the app to report tips now, said Perrault, instead of picking up the phone and calling.
People are also widely sharing Regina Crime Stopper’s social media posts, and this quick spread of information can lead to crimes being solved faster.
“It exponentially helps us solve a crime, so within days we recover a vehicle versus maybe never finding it, so the fact that people now can interact together, share it together, help that message propagate, it gives us unlimited possibilities,” said Perrault.
The Regina branch was honoured with the award earlier this month at the Crime Stoppers International Conference in Singapore. Crime Stoppers has 1,700 local programs in 32 countries around the world.