CRIME STOPPERS HAS BIG YEAR

Crime Stoppers of Grey Bruce had a banner year in 2009, when it
received more than 500 tips that led to the seizure of more than $3
million worth of drugs and the recovery of $58,085 worth of property.

The figures pushed the local law enforcement group past the $30
million mark in the value of drugs seized since its inception in 1987
and past the 10,000 mark in tips received.

"We were up in pretty well every category," said Dean Rutherford, the
South Bruce OPP constable who has been seconded to work full-time with
Crime Stoppers since October 1998.

The 514 tips received last year was up from 433 in 2008. There were 51
arrests as a result of the tips, up one from the year before. More
than $9,000 in reward money was approved, although only $1,775 was
collected by tipsters.

"A lot of people call in and they don't want the reward or don't claim
the reward," Rutherford said,

The $3,115,705 in drugs seized was a big increase from 2008, when the
total was $1,998,465.

"That does include the grow ops, the majority of that is marijuana,"
Rutherford said. "That dollar figure, in my mind, doesn't represent
the more serious drugs out there. I'm not trying to minimize
marijuana, but crystal meth is a nasty drug and one we're really
gunning to get off our streets."

He has a particular dislike for crystal meth. "I see how it can really
mess people up."

But shutting down a lab is difficult to do through tips, he said.

"As the laws are right now, you have to get them with the finished
product or the process of cooking" because the equipment and raw
materials needed to to make the drug are not illegal to possess.

On top of that "meth labs can be very mobile, in the trunk of a car"
and someone can set up a lab and make the drug in about three hours,
he said.

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit community organization set up to
collect information that assists law enforcement agencies solve or
prevent crime. It pays cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information
leading to an arrest, the recovery of stolen property or the seizure
of illegal drugs while maintaining total anonymity for the caller and
complete confidentiality of the tip, according to the group's
publicity material.

Rewards are based on "the seriousness of the crime, the dollar amount
of what we seize and also the maybe the degree of danger the tipster
is in . . . those are some of the things we look at," Rutherford said.

"It's not just the police we pass tips on to," he added. "We'll pass
onto the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources on
poaching infractions, the CAS (Children's Aid Society) if it's child
abuse."

A large part of Rutherford's job is talking to groups, including young
people who have often been exposed to the don't-snitch attitude pushed
by some rappers and peer pressure not to be "a rat."

"When I address students I talk about that. I say look, I'm not here
to tell you you have to inform . . . I'm more there to instill a sense
there's an option" if bad things are happening and they want them to
stop. "I don't push it as there's a civil duty, you have a duty, it's
you have an option."

Rutherford's salary is paid by the OPP but his administrative
assistant's salary and all other Crime Stoppers activities in Grey
Bruce are paid for by fundraising activities. The group doesn't
receive any direct government funding, although the province provides
$200,000 a year for an after-hours answering service for the 38
chapters across Ontario.

According to Rutherford, since it began in May 1987, Crime Stoppers
Grey Bruce has received 10,020 tips leading to 1,319 arrests, the
closure of 2,379 cases, the seizure of $31,162,259 worth of illegal
drugs, the recovery of $3,336,302 worth of property and has approved
$202,875 in rewards.

Crime Stoppers began in New Mexico 34 years ago. The international
umbrella organization now has 1,200 programs worldwide which have paid
out $93,885,570 in rewards, been involved in 812,493 arrests, cleared
1,265,964 cases, the seizure of $7,096,726,550 worth of drugs and the
recovery of $1,952,653,377 in property.