JANUARY: CRIME STOPPERS MONTH

Crime Stoppers is a partnership involving the police, the community
and the media with the aim of solving crime and keeping our streets
safe. Since the inception in the Comox Valley of the Crime Stoppers
program in 1989, we have had an impressive record of success and have
assisted the Comox Valley RCMP in a number of areas, including efforts
to curtail crime in our schools and the community.

Courtenay Mayor Starr Winchester officially laun-ched Crime Stoppers
Month with a proclamation on Jan. 5, the same day that the more than
1,000 Crime Stoppers programs around the world were commemorating
Crime Stoppers Month. You should be aware that on a global basis since
Crime Stoppers was originated in Albuquerque, New Mexico in September
1976, on an accumulative basis programs have cleared almost 1.1
million cases, recovered some $1.6 billion in stolen property and
provided information that has led to the seizure of approximately $4.9
billion in illicit drugs.

Since the inception of the Comox Valley Crime Stoppers program over
$17 million worth of drugs have been seized in the Comox Valley, 370
individuals have been arrested, closing a total of 659 cases and
almost $600,000 worth of property has been recovered.

The local Crime Stoppers board is comprised of volunteers, and no
direct government funding is provided. Crime Stoppers relies on
donations from the community, and bingo revenue.

Crime Stoppers has always tried to come up with innovative ways of
reducing crime, and making the community safer. The latest endeavor is
the "Securitags" program. These small tags have your driver's licence
number on them to assist the police in tracking the owner of recovered
property. These applications can be picked up at the Comox Valley RCMP
detachment and several insurance locations locally.

Inspector Tom Gray states that he is "in full support of tremendous
work being done by Crime Stoppers."

The Comox Valley Crime Stoppers Web site is maintained by a member of
the local Crime Stoppers board, and it is getting excellent usage with
over 17,000 hits in the past year. The site is updated almost daily
with current crime information.