Tips to Prince George Crime Stopper Program yielded 24 arrests and seizure of $316,496 in property and drugs during 2014, according to numbers released Tuesday.
The totals came as a result of 534 tips given to Crime Stoppers. In all a dozen awards adding up to $2,825 were approved but only of third of them have been collected.
"People are not phoning us to get the money necessarily," Prince George Crime Stoppers president Jack Hooper said. "They're doing it to get bad guys off the streets."
The number of tips received was down from 587 received during 2013 and Hooper said it was probably the slowest year in a decade. Among the busiest was 2011, when there were 750 tips, and $7 million worth of drugs and property seized as a result of calls to Crime Stoppers.
But Hooper was satisfied with the totals for 2014.
"We're not down dramatically, we're not up dramatically," he said. "The system's still working."
The numbers were released to kick of Crime Stoppers month in Prince George. Two events are planned for January to raise Crime Stoppers' profile:
- Crime Stoppers will be at the Prince George Spruce Kings hockey game against Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Thurs., Jan. 15 at the Coliseum, 7 p.m. start. A $100 Pine Centre Mall gift certificate will be among the draw prizes.
- On Sat., Jan. 31, Crime Stoppers will be at the UNBC basketball games against the MacEwan University Griffins and once again, a $100 Pine Centre Mall gift certificate will be among the draw prizes. The women tip of at 5 p.m. and the men at 7 p.m.
There are three ways to submit a tip to Prince George Crime Stoppers:
- The traditional method of calling 1-800-222-8477 and providing information to an operator.
- Submitting a typed tip via the website at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca;
- By texting PGTIPS and the information a tipster wishes to provide, to 274637 from any cellular phone or device with SMS capability.
Tip providers do not need to leave their names but are asked to provide as many details as possible. All information is treated anonymously.
