The Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers program received more tips from the community in 2020 compared to the year previous, which resulted in more tip rewards paid out for successful information.
During its recent annual general meeting, the board of directors shared that Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers received a total of 294 tips in 2020, with $1,700 in rewards approved.
This is an increase from the data provided during last year’s meeting, which reported a total of 214 tips were received in 2019 with $950 in rewards issued to tipsters.
Board chairman Lyle Johnson said he was pleased with the level of community engagement with the program this year.
Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers continued to utilize its Facebook page to request information from the public regarding local crimes of interest, publishing 17 posts throughout 2020.
The online reporting tool P3 Tips, which offers tipsters the option to report tips anonymously through its online portal or smartphone app, also continued to see engagement after debuting in 2019.
While the majority of tips received in 2019 were reported through the online app, the opposite occurred during 2020, said McNaughton — 101 tips this year were reported using the online P3 Tips method, while the remaining 193 came in via phone calls.
Financial reports presented during the meeting also shared that several donations were made to the program.
The Moose Jaw ACT/UCT council made its annual donation of $2,000, as an annual sponsor of the program since its inception in 1984, and the local Early Bird Lions Club also made a donation of $800.
Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers program also received a donation of $600, dispensed from a donation by the Kinsmen Clubs of Saskatchewan made to the provincial Crime Stoppers association.
The board report speculated that the COVID-19 restrictions in place during 2020 may have affected the level of reporting in comparison to previous years, as criminal activity appeared to be slowed when restrictions came into place.
Crime Stoppers tip activity was also down across the province for most of 2020, until very recently, likely also in correlation with the pandemic restrictions.
The Moose Jaw Crime Stoppers program is one of 120 programs currently operating worldwide. Moose Jaw was the first municipality in Saskatchewan to create a local Crime Stoppers program.
