Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers celebrating 35 years this month

January is Crime Stoppers month, which also happens to be when the Canadian chapter of the crime fighting organization is celebrating its 35th anniversary.

The international Crime Stoppers family, however, is also mourning the recent passing of David Hammond, who helped create Crime Stoppers in the United Kingdom approximately 35 years ago as well.

“David saw from the start the enormous good that the charity could do and together with our chair, Lord Ashcroft, and other like-minded individuals did the hard but critical work of turning a vision into a reality,” Crime Stoppers UK CEO Mark Hallas says.

The Crime Stoppers program was the brainchild of Canadian-born detective Greg MacAleese in Albuquerque, N.M., in 1976, The program promotes the empowerment of individuals to share information about crime anonymously, leading to safer, more sustainable communities.

Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers is a successful, multi-award-winning, community-based crime solving program that follows the founders vision of helping to solve crime. Working in partnership with the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers Society are the general public, media, RCMP and Regional District of Central Okanagan.

Its area covers communities from Oyama to Peachland, with a dedicated board and because of community support, Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers has received more than 30,000 tips, made almost 3,000 arrests and given out almost 1,000 rewards.

“January 2022 marks 35 years of the Crime Stoppers program, and we couldn’t be happier about its longevity and how it helps this community,” board vice-president Andrea Lindal says.

“On that note, we are also very grateful to the people who are brave enough to reach out if they’ve seen something they need to report.”

Anyone interested in joining the board of directors, which is actively recruiting, can learn more about that and Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers on its website here.