Crime Stoppers program renewed
Committee formed to increase profile of organization
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An $8,000 grant from the Justice Department of the NWT is expected to breathe new life into the territory's Crime Stoppers program.
The new NWT Crime Stoppers committee is holding a town hall meeting on April 16 to listen to ideas on how to give the organization a higher profile. Crime Stoppers allows citizens to anonymously phone or text a tip to police. Tipsters don't have to testify in court and could be eligible for a cash reward. - photo illustration by John McFadden
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The program has never officially gone away but its new committee chairperson admits is has sat virtually dormant for the past couple of years. City councillor Linda Bussey said it is being rejuvenated on several front including separating from the Nunavut program, upping the reward pool, establishing its own presence at the national Crime Stoppers table and explaining to the public that you can now text a tip.
A town hall meeting is set for April 16 at city hall where the organization's future will be discussed.
Crime Stoppers allows citizens to anonymously report crimes or suspicious activities. They are then eligible for a cash reward if their information leads to an arrest. They are not obligated to testify in court.
The funding from the justice department came from its Community Justice and Policing Committee. Wade Blake, director of that committee stated in an e-mail that additional funding was made available by the Alberta branch of Crime Stoppers.
"We want to be as supportive as possible to ensure this service continues to operate and as a result, we were able to provide funding for recruitment of board members and necessary supports," Blake stated.
"The ability for the public to come forward with anonymous tips provides information to the RCMP they may not receive otherwise. It's a valuable conduit and one more avenue to increase the safety in our communities," he stated.
There is no real reason that the program was allowed to lapse, but the community has a great new committee, Bussey said.
"We are meeting every month now and we're going to do a lot of promotion and a lot of awareness about what Crime Stoppers can do for people," Bussey said.
Bussey said the need for a revitalized Crime Stoppers program came out of a public safety meeting held in the summer of 2013 following a rash of sexual assaults on or near the McMahon Frame Lake Trail.
The program has never officially shut down in the NWT but Bussey pointed out that only three tips have been received so far this year. In the past the program was coupled with Nunavut.
"So we're doing this as NWT only now," Bussey said.
"Also we used to have a seat at the national Crime Stoppers Association that was filled by the representative from Alberta. Now we will send our own rep to the national table," Bussey said.
Another incentive of the program is that tipsters are eligible for cash rewards if their tips lead to an arrest. Bussey said the reward pool in the NWT has dwindled substantially over the years but said the committee is set to develop fundraising ideas to increase that pool.
"It's not just reward money that we need funding for. The program has to be administered and we need funding just to keep the tipline up and running," she said.
The organization also recently received a letter of support from David Ramsay, the NWT justice minister, Bussey said.
The Crime Stoppers program is a proven entity, in the North, across Canada and internationally, Bussey said. She pointed to the foiling of an alleged mall shooting plot last month in Halifax as a good example. Police have charged two people with conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a plan to carry out an attack at the mall on Valentine's Day. Ralph Page, president of the Crime Stoppers Association called it "likely the most significant Crime Stoppers tip ever received in Canada."
