STOPPING MORE CRIME

More Tips to Crime Stoppers Leads to 300 More Charges Laid From Calls in 2006

More people called Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers last
year resulting in more arrests, more charges laid and almost $2
million in drugs seized.

OPP Det. Const. Paul Shaughnessy, one of the two co-ordinators of the
program, said that's good news not just for Crime Stoppers but for
the community.

"It proves to us that the program is working," Shaughnessy told The
Examiner. "Crime Stoppers works because there is a commitment from
people in the community to keep it a safe place."

Shaughnessy and fellow co-ordinator city police Det. Const. Glen
Hough said there were almost 300 more charges laid with tips from
Crime Stoppers last year compared with 2005.

It shows the police are getting good quality tips, Shaughnessy said.

Those tips helped police solve 108 cases and arrest 149 people last
year, he said.

Tips led to the seizure of $122,093 in property and more than $1.7
million in drugs.

Shaughnessy said drugs seized include marijuana, crack cocaine,
ecstasy and Oxycodone pills.

"We exist to put police on the right track," Shaughnessy said.

This year, Crime Stoppers plans to increase awareness among the
community even more with the purchase of an additional 15 road signs
to be placed in smaller communities in both Peterborough and
Northumberland counties.

"We want to keep Crime Stoppers out there as a reminder," Shaughnessy
said, adding when the sign program started two years ago, calls to
the program increased 17 per cent.

The signs were paid for through a partnership between the Community
Futures Development Corporation and Crime Stoppers, he said.