Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers received 33 more tips last year than in 2021, with most tips coming through its webpage, while it also approved more award money than in previous years.
The crime-fighting organization received 209 tips from the public in 2022, compared to 176 tips the year before, Const. Branden Hoggins reported during the organization’s annual meeting on Feb. 7. Most tips — 154 — came through the Crime Stoppers webpage, while the rest arrived via the mobile app, call centre or in-house reports.
Meanwhile, most tips — 34 — were related to drugs, similar to the year before, while 27 tips were about thefts, the data showed. Tips also led to the recovery of two vehicles stolen from Moose Jaw worth $30,000 and recovered elsewhere; police laid eight charges with those offences.
The number of followers on Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers’ (MJCS) Facebook page jumped to 5,400 people, an increase of about 400 people from the year before, Hoggins noted.
“The Facebook way to communicate is still quite effective. That is our primary way of communicating with the general public,” he said, with “Warrant Wednesdays” and “Can you identify this person?” the most popular features. “I feel like it’s quite successful doing that.”
The organization approved $1,500 in awards money based on all the successful tips — compared to $900 in 2021 — but tipsters only collected $150, Hoggins added. The onus is on the people providing the tips to collect that money since he can’t hound them. Instead, they must check the app or web page to see if they’ve won.
Other data shows more than 50 per cent of tipsters do not claim their reward money since they would prefer Crime Stoppers use it for different initiatives.
Chairman’s report
Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers is celebrating its 38th birthday this year and is the oldest Crime Stoppers group in the province, said Lyle Johnson during his chairman’s report. The group was incorporated one day before the City of Regina’s association began, about which former Moose Jaw mayor Louis (Scoop) Lewry always enjoyed reminding people.
Crime Stoppers began in the United States 40 years ago, while Calgary was the first Canadian municipality to adopt the program, he continued. The program arrived in Moose Jaw two years later after a Calgary officer arrived in town to be the new police chief.
The program has recovered $838,233 worth of drugs and property since it began here in 1985, while it has processed 4,407 tips, paid out $39,400 in tips out of $56,565 in approved tip money and arrested 503 people, Johnson said. These numbers show how successful the program has been and reflect the good co-operation between the police and residents.
Crime Stoppers has also seen how useful social media has become and how it has evolved over the years, he continued. The program started with a phone number of 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), followed by a webpage on the Moose Jaw Police Service website, followed by a phone app and social media pages.
“We try to keep pace with the technology of our society, so that’s a good thing,” Johnson remarked.
The chairman also thanked the Moose Jaw Police Service, the media and the board for working together to make the program successful.
MJCS also thanked several long-standing sponsors for their donations during the annual meeting, including the Early Bird Lions with $800, ACT/UCT with $2,000, the Kinsmen with $880, SaskTel with $1,250 and SaskPower with roughly $600.
The board noted that Crime Stoppers receives no government funding and relies on donations and sponsors for its revenue.
Internet exploitation
Members of the police service's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit gave a presentation about their work during the Crime Stoppers meeting. It was similar to the one the unit gave the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) in March 2022.
Doug Blanc, a city councillor and a BOPC commissioner, praised the police service's efforts afterwards. He noted that council supports the police, as evidenced by the budget increase it provided the agency for this year. He also acknowledged that the community has problems, which officers are attempting to address.
