Guelph-Wellington Crime Stoppers held a special flag raising ceremony in Mount Forest on Friday, September 12 to celebrate Crime Stoppers Month.
Sarah Bowers-Peter, Crime Stoppers Program Coordinator for the area, says Crime Stoppers Month used to be held in January, but it was difficult given the weather, and then it was suggested to move it to September and a great reason was found for doing so.
"We did find that there was a connection to September because that's when Crime Stoppers was actually launched in 1976, so the idea was, why don't we celebrate the creation, the launch and the advent of Crime Stoppers by celebrating Crime Stoppers Month in September," Bowers-Peter said.
Bowers-Peter says Crime Stoppers main goal is to offer an anonymous tip service to help solve crimes locally.
"This is ideal for people who maybe don't feel comfortable or don't want to deal directly with police. We always advocate that you can, but the idea is if you have information about an unresolved crime and you wanna do the right thing in your community, you can give that information to us by calling 1-888-222-TIPS or go to our website at CSGW.tips," she explained.
Bowers-Peter says it's important to engage and educate the public on what they do, which includes working with and supporting other local services like Victim Services Guelph Wellington and Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis. Crime Stoppers also has educational campaigns around things like fraud and community safety.
But in terms of the main tips service, Bowers-Peter says the fact you remain anonymous can be a big factor in people coming forward.
"Your identity will never be known, the investigator will never know it was you and you don't have to testify in court, and that's a big one for a lot of people. But then you know, this way, that you've done the right thing for community safety, and that's something we circle back on regularly, is that community safety is a huge mandate for Crime Stoppers," added Bowers-Peter.
Additionally, Crime Stoppers in all areas are always looking for new volunteers and board members to help out with organizing the many different fundraising events that help keep the service going. That includes raffles, golf tournaments, dinner galas and many other events.
You can find out more or apply to become a volunteer at CSGW.tips.