| CRIME STOPPERS Remain anonymous, earn a reward and assist your Police Service and your community
Crime
Stoppers of St. Thomas Inc.
Crime
Stoppers Police Coordinator - Constable Katherine McNeil For more information, visit the St. Thomas Crimestoppers website at: You can call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) from anywhere in Canada and the call will be forwarded to the closest Crime Stopper program in the country.
Mission Statement To solve and reduce crime in St. Thomas and surrounding area with the help of the Police Service, the Media, a Board of Directors and an anonymous source. Historical Background Crime Stoppers was the brain child of Greg MacAleese, a Canadian born police detective with the Albuquerque City Police Department in New Mexico. Albuquerque, at that time, had the dubious distinction of being in the top ten U.S. cities in violent crime per capita. MacAleese had run out of leads in a homicide investigation in which a young gas station attendant was murdered. For no other apparent reason than to eliminate him as a witness, the suspects blasted him twice with a sawed off shotgun prior to fleeing the scene. MacAleese, frustrated by the lack of investigative leads in this senseless killing, reasoned that the public had information that would assist in solving this case. He was aware that general apathy and fear of reprisal were two major prohibitions mitigating against the public coming forth with information concerning crime. MacAleese approached the local cable television company asking them to tape a staged re-enactment on location and air the tape over the next twenty-four hour period. He established a "tips line" on which he would receive calls from anyone who would call to provide information concerning the homicide guaranteeing anonymity to the "tipster" in the process. The guarantee of anonymity was intended to overcome the fear of retribution and MacAleese offered a cash reward from his own pocket to overcome apathy. MacAleese received several calls and the case was solved as a direct result of a tipster who reported observing the suspect vehicle fleeing the gas station parking lot at a high rate of speed. This coalition between the media and the police resulted in the first Crime Stoppers program being spawned. MacAleese felt the public should play a lead role in this program, so he drafted the services of several prominent civilians to serve as a governing Board of Directors for the fledgling crime fighting organization. The triad of the media, the police and the community forming a union in the fight against crime was in place and the concept spread rapidly to a point where today, there are 1000 programs internationally, of which, 100 are operating in Canada and 39 in Ontario. The growth of Crime Stoppers has been dramatic - "the biggest impact in policing since the identification and classification of fingerprints." In fact, since 1987, Crime Stoppers programs have been established in England, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Netherlands, Australia, West Africa and of course, in Canada. History of Crime Stoppers in St.Thomas In 1988, a community-minded individual named Vern Huston approached then Chief of Police, Wayne Howard, and the Board of Commissioners of Police to endorse and participate in an innovative, pro-active, non-profit, crime fighting program that would establish a partnership between the public, the media and the police to fight crime in St.Thomas. According to Police Commission records, on September 28, 1988, the Chairman of the Police Commission, Mayor Janet Golding, introduced the Crime Stoppers program to the public via Allview Cable who attended the Commission meeting to tape the "official kick-off" of Crime Stoppers. Constable Glenn Hodgson was introduced as the first program Coordinator. In December, Crime Stoppers hosted its first Business After 5 meeting at St.Anne's Centre to introduce the program to the business community. Since that time, St. Thomas Crime Stoppers has grown to be one of the most successful programs in Ontario. Crime Stoppers helped with the early arrest of two (2) Young Offenders in the May 2008 Arson at Historic Alma College. Calls started coming in to Crime Stoppers within an hour of the fire being discovered. In 2004 Crime Stoppers of St. Thomas launched a student awareness video. The video was produced by Dog and Pony Productions Ltd. of St. Thomas with the support of the Alcoa Foundation. The video features local students acting in various skits promoting Crime Stoppers as a safe avenue to report crime and suspicious activity in their school communities. In 2007 at the Crime Stoppers International Conference in Bermuda, the St. Thomas Crime Stoppers program received the following four (4) Awards:
In 2008 at the Provincial Conference in Hamilton, Ontario, the St. Thomas Crime Stoppers program received the following two (2) Awards:
Statistics (as of June 30, 2008 - since inception of program)
Why it Works The main factors preventing people from communicating information on crime to police are apathy and fear of reprisal. Crime Stoppers combats apathy by offering a cash reward for the arrest of person(s) responsible for criminal activity. A guarantee of anonymity eliminates fear of reprisal.
When a tipster calls, they provide their information to the Police Coordinator, they receive a code number and their identity is never revealed, not even to the Coordinator. They are instructed to call Crime Stoppers in a week or two for an update quoting their code number. If the information leads to an arrest, a cash reward is assigned to the tipster. Rewards are determined by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors is comprised of a group of fifteen (15) concerned citizens who volunteer their time to serve their community. Crime Stoppers is incorporated as a charitable organization. The Directors of the Corporation administer the affairs of the Corporation including fundraising, control of the funds and payments made as a result of the reward program. Board meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month. If you are interested in a position on the Crime Stoppers Board of Directors, contact the Police Coordinator for an application and further information.
The Crime Stoppers Police Coordinator is a sworn police officer who is responsible for the promotion of the Crime Stoppers program and serves as a liaison between the media, the Crime Stoppers Board of Directors, the general public and the Police Service. The Coordinator is involved in the creation and production of promotional materials including re-enactments of crimes, educational pamphlets, as well as presentations, seminars and fund raising events. The Coordinator is also an investigator who receives calls from informants, assigns a code number to each informant, and disseminates the investigative information to the appropriate branch of the Police Service or other law enforcement agencies for further investigation. The Coordinator also makes recommendations to the Board of Directors concerning cash awards to those who have provided information in accordance with the set criteria of the program.
CRIME STOPPERS is incorporated as a charitable organization; all donations are tax exempt. Remember….Crime doesn't pay…..but Crime Stoppers does! 519-631-TIPS (8477)
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St. Catharine Street, St.Thomas, Ontario, Canada - Phone: (519) 631-1224
Fax: (519) 633-9028 Emergency: 9-1-1
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