PUSLINCH – Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year and program coordinator Sarah Bowers-Peter is taking her show on the road, presenting information about the agency to municipalities and organizations in the region.
On June 14 she presented to Puslinch council and came away with an offer for Crime Stoppers to hang banners at Puslinch baseball diamonds and add links to its website from the Puslinch Township website.
“That was unexpected,” Bowers-Peter said in an interview after the council meeting.
“I’ve been going around and introducing us to councils. It’s so important to get that face time. And councils generally want to know what we do. But this advertising space – it’s such a wonderful way to support us.”
Thirty-five years ago, Crime Stoppers branches were popping up across the country. It was a new concept – an anonymous way to report crime and win a cash reward. The focus back then was getting that message out and having people use the hotline.
When Bowers-Peter joined the agency nine years ago, Crime Stoppers was well known, and the phone hotline was well used.
She, along with the board of directors, saw an opportunity to be proactive and “shed light on the crimes we were having in the county,” she said.
Since then, Crime Stoppers runs education campaigns and gives presentations on all sorts of crimes, from fraud and the elderly, to hate crimes, and its latest focus on human trafficking.
Over its 35-year history, Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington has received 23,000 tips, made 1,596 arrests, 2,307 cases have been cleared, and 4,506 charges laid.
Those tips led to the recovery of more than $10 million worth of property, $27,000 of recovered narcotics, and $183,000 in rewards have been paid out to tip providers.
Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington has received a number of awards over the years as well, most notably the Marla Moon Memorial Award of Excellence.
This award is for work that demonstrates active engagement in all areas of Crime Stoppers – media, police and community – and considers volunteer hours, community engagement, tip taking and other initiatives.
CSGW has won this award for eight years in a row, which is unprecedented.
Puslinch councillors were impressed with the agency and grateful for its work as Puslinch which, with its proximity to Highway 401, faces a different climate for crime than other locales in Wellington County.
“I’m happy to see the programming you offer and commend you for evolving the program to be relevant and meet the needs of society,” said councillor Russel Hurst.
At Mayor James Seeley’s suggestion, council agreed to let Crime Stoppers hang a banner at the baseball diamond to draw attention to its work.
Bowers-Peter will also give a presentation to the township’s youth advisory committee.
Anonymous tips can be left by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at crimestoppersguelphwellington.com.
