Crime Stoppers gets $200k for new campaign in battle against gang violence

The B.C. government is giving $200,000 to Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers in a bid to help police make arrests and solve cases in gang-related crimes and to reduce gang violence.

The money will go toward the revival of Crime Stopper's successful “guns and gangs” advertising campaign for oneyear. The campaign will be aimed at people who have personal connections with gang members, but don't want to be identified as informants, said Linda Annis, executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers.

“We only want your information so we can pass it on to the police,” Annis said at a news conference at RCMP E Division headquarters on Monday. “We do not want to know who you are.”

A similar campaign in 2016 and 2017 using ads in billboards and bus shelters, as well as signage at restaurants, was a success. After that campaign, anonymous gang and gun crime tips increased to 13 per cent of all Crime Stoppers tips received, up from six per cent previously. The anonymous tips led to 145 people arrested for gang violence and illegal weapons offences, and the seizure of 219 guns.

Darlene Bennett, whose husband Paul Bennett was shot to death in 2018 in the driveway of their Cloverdale home after the killer mistook him for a high-profile gangster, praised the return of the campaign.

“Every time someone is killed needlessly by gang violence, we all lose something,” said Bennett.

“These shootings are happening, so random, so out of control without any regard for the safety of everyone around. We all need to be part of the solution.”

The funds are being provided by B.C.'s ministry of public safety in partnership with the federal government through the Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund.

“Police from all jurisdictions across the Lower Mainland are focused on ending this cycle of gang violence,” said solicitor general Mike Farnworth. “We need members of the public who have information to come forward and help police bring those responsible for the violence to justice.”

The details of the new campaign will be announced soon, said Annis.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477 or at a new number 1-855-448-8477, online at solvecrime.ca, or through the Crime Stoppers app.