Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers is a non profit community based crime solving program working in conjunction with the police, the media and the public to help make your community a safer place in which to live.
Crime Stoppers is a program that empowers regular people to fight back against crime. Anyone can submit an anonymous tip by using our tips line, and if that tip leads to an arrest the individual will receive a reward for their efforts.
Crime Stoppers operates in over 20 countries worldwide and since the very first program started in 1976, we have become the number one community based crime solving organization in the world.
January is the month designated as “Crime Stoppers Month” – the month each program takes to publically highlight their successes and thank their sponsors and supporters. Crime Stoppers Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous support of the community, the RCMP and the media in helping Crime Stoppers achieve our successes.
Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers is one of 33 programs in BC, and is a member of the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association. Canada is also represented at Crime Stoppers International, which has over 1400 programs operating worldwide. Crime Stoppers International signed a formal agreement with Interpol to help combat transnational crime such as wanted fugitives, child pornography, human trafficking and drug smuggling. As recent headlines have shown, we are not immune from this type of cross border crime.
The Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers Society is pleased to be hosting the Provincial Crime Stoppers Training Conference in Kelowna from May 12-14, 2011. This conference will welcome delegates from across BC and Western Canada who will be updated on the latest crime trends and methods to combat them. This year’s conference theme is “Byte Back against Crime,” focussing on targeting crimes that affect our young people such as cyber crime, internet luring, cyber bullying, identity theft, explicit internet-posted photos, etc. The students of Rutland Senior Secondary School Voodoo Video Production class have created three short video presentations on cyber bullying, graffiti and drug trafficking for Crime Stoppers that will be showcased at the conference.
Along with support from media partners, Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers are now using social media to promote our program and to highlight newsworthy items such as missing persons announcements, crimes of the week, and bulletins for wanted suspects. Check out our webpage at www.crimestoppers.net and follow the links to our Face Book, You Tube and Twitter pages.
Tip submitting methods have come a long way. Not only can you call in a tip by phoning our call centre at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), but you can submit a tip anonymously through our website (www.crimestoppers.net) or by texting to crimes (274637), using the keyword ktown in the subject line.
Does Crime Stoppers work? Quite simply…yes! Since the inception of the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers Society in 1987, we have been responsible for taking over $62 million worth of illegal drugs off the streets, recovering $3.5 million in stolen property and seizing a number of illegal weapons. We have received over 17,500 tips from the public resulting in over 2200 arrests. Amazingly, many of the tipsters are not interested in collecting their reward – they are calling in because of their concern for their community.
2010 Statistics:
Tips received: 1114
Arrests: 76
Most wanted tips: 204
Most Wanted Arrests 40
Cash rewards approved: $13,587.00
Value of property recovered: $70,166.00
Value of narcotics seized: $3,289,705.00
Since inception the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers has paid out $ 165,000 in reward money for the positive results of these tips. Crime Stoppers is a non-profit society, it relies on support from our sponsors and donations from the public to operate the programs and pay out the rewards. The Crime Stoppers Society is run by an independent board of directors who all volunteer a great deal of time and effort to the organization and to our communities. We hold several fundraisers during the year, including our annual golf tournament. This year the Tournament will be held on the 26th of September 2011 at the Sunset Ranch Golf Course. However, donations any time of year are gratefully accepted. Donations can be made in person, by calling our office at 250-470-6215, or by clicking on the “Donate” link on our website, which will lead to the CanadaHelps website. This organization accepts donations on our behalf and will provide you with a charitable receipt.
Crime Stoppers is definitely here to stay. It has been accepted by the police forces around the globe as an effective investigative aid and a part of their crime prevention strategy. The Crime Stoppers program allows the citizens of the Central Okanagan to become valuable partners in the fight against criminal activity and to make our communities a safer place to live.
