It turns out that giving a tip Crime Stoppers is rarely about cashing in.
In fact, according to Prince George Crime Stoppers president Jack Hooper, of 13 awards, worth a total $2,430, approved during 2013, only one-third have been picked up.
It's been a trend for the last couple of years.
"They're putting in tips not to get the money, they're putting in tips to create a better community," Hooper said Monday when the numbers were released.
In all, 587 tips were received, resulting in 26 arrests and the recovery of $35,110 in property. Last year's totals were down from 2012 when a major bust led to a big approval but were generally in line with most previous years.
Since the program's inception in 1991, 529 awards worth $161,320 have been approved. And over that time, 10,532 tips have been received, 1,445 arrests have been made and nearly $2.9 million worth of property has been recovered as a result of Crime Stoppers.
The other trend Hooper noticed was an increasing use of Crime Stoppers' text-a-tip service, which was introduced two years ago.
"At first we didn't think it was going to be such a big deal but we're now getting about a third of tips from text-a-tips," Hooper said.
An added benefit is it allows Crime Stoppers to communicate with the tipster while still providing anonymity to the person.
"The computer grabs the IP address of where the tip came from and gives it a code so no person can see who it is but if we have a question we can ask the computer to send a note to that IP address and get more information," Hooper said.
For example, when a tip was received a few months ago about a crack shack, Crime Stoppers was able to send a message back to the tipster asking for the specific address. Within 15 minutes, there was a response with the exact location.
The numbers were issued Monday to kick off Crime Stoppers month. To celebrate, the non-profit is offering two chances to win a Kindle Fire HD tablet.
Entry forms and swag will be available this Saturday and Sunday at Pine Centre Mall, on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the UNBC Timberwolves basketball games at the Northern Sport Centre and on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Prince George Spruce Kings hockey game at the Coliseum.
Volunteers are also welcome. There are nine people sitting on the Prince George Crime Stoppers board of directors and Hooper would like to see that number increased to 11.
People can also support the non-profit by becoming a member for $5.
And, of course tips continue to be welcomed via phone at 1-800-222-8477, internet at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only), or text CRIMES (274637) using the keyword "pgtips".
