January is Crime Stoppers Month

January is Crime Stoppers Month across Canada, and here in Saskatchewan the anonymous tip line is a key part of law enforcement.

Crime Stoppers has been active in Saskatchewan since 1987, and in that time over 8000 arrests and more than 13,000 cases have been cleared in our province.

Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers president Dale Harvey says the key to crime stoppers success lies in one thing: "It's confidentiality. People are safe, whether they are phoning in on a telephone,sending a text tip or online. People are safe, they know their identity won't be revealed. A lot of the time the people that do phone in can be fairly close (to the suspect), they know somebody."

Besides protecting your identity, Crime Stoppers also offers cash rewards to people whose tips help solve crimes. Those tips have paid off and Crime Stoppers has repaid tipsters in kind, paying out over $380,000 in Saskatchewan alone.