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Former RCMP members working to raise awareness of Annapolis Valley Crime Stoppers
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BERWICK, N.S. — Two former RCMP officers say they volunteer with Crime Stoppers because they believe in the mission of making communities safer places to live, conduct business and raise kids.
Bob Buchanan of Aylesford served with the RCMP for almost 27 years and has been retired for almost three decades. Buchanan has volunteered for several different organizations and has been with Annapolis Valley Crime Stoppers since 1996, serving several terms as chairperson.
“I stuck with Crime Stoppers because I think it’s the biggest contribution to a livable community,” Buchanan said.
He said the organization enjoys great community support and is very effective. Crime is stopped or prevented through anonymous tips. Buchanan said ongoing crime can be divisive to communities as people can become unfriendly or suspicious of each other.
He said the organization has had some solid tips come in from Annapolis Valley citizens that have helped solve serious crimes or stopped ongoing chains of crimes.
“It really is a valuable source, people will not come to the police department and say, ‘I saw this,’” Buchanan said. “If they can anonymously call, they’ll do it.”
He said a lot of people who call, about 50 per cent, don’t want a cash reward for their tip. They call because they want to help put an end to crime in their community or for stolen property to be recovered, for example, but don’t want to be identified or testify in court.
Buchanan said perhaps the biggest role of the Annapolis Valley Crime Stoppers board is to raise awareness of the program and educate the public on how it works. A key message is they want your information, not your name.
Buchanan said Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers suggests an amount to pay for tips that lead to arrests and charges being laid for various types of crime, but the amount of an award comes down to a decision by the local board. Cash rewards can range from $50 to $2,000.
Michael Payne, the new Annapolis Valley Crime Stoppers board chairperson, said the organization serves Kings and Annapolis counties and currently has about a dozen volunteers.
Payne, a former RCMP member, joined the organization in November 2021. He said he was looking for a volunteer organization to join, and Crime Stoppers is a good fit for him.
As chairperson, he helps co-ordinate and facilitate local Crime Stoppers meetings and activities. He acts as a liaison with other local boards and the provincial board and reports back to the Annapolis Valley group.
“It’s just a way to give back to the community, and as a police officer over 30 years, I know the value of the tips that come in,” Payne said.
He said those anonymous calls provide information. Police can’t get a search warrant based on an anonymous call, but the information can be a starting point for further investigation, leading to arrests and charges being laid.
People with information often want to do right by their community, and Crime Stoppers provides a vehicle for them to anonymously pass their information along to law enforcement. Payne points out that Crime Stoppers is separate from law enforcement agencies, but they work in partnership.
Payne said they are grateful to the Town of Berwick for making the council chambers available to the Annapolis Valley group to hold monthly meetings. Buchanan said it’s great to have access to a meeting venue that is central to their catchment area, and they appreciate the town’s support.
Payne said Crime Stoppers is about making communities safer places to live, conduct business and raise kids. Buchanan said that’s the reason he’s part of the organization, and he feels they’re successful in helping to achieve that goal.
Crime Stoppers volunteers come from various backgrounds. Payne and Buchanan are the only two former police officers on the Annapolis Valley board. Buchanan said it’s usually the case that people stick with the organization for a long time once they become volunteers.
Raising awareness
Payne said it has members who visit Valley businesses, for example, to pass out cards and Crime Stoppers materials to be displayed or distributed to help raise awareness.
One aspect of crime that the organization has targeted in recent years is human trafficking. Payne said members have been putting information cards on the inside of bathroom stall doors. The cards urge anyone who may be in that situation to call police or to submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.
Payne said the Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers Awareness Guide publication is their major fundraiser. This year, it will be available online in a digital format for the first time.
Annapolis Valley Crime Stoppers has several events planned this year to help raise awareness. Buchanan is organizing a barbecue at Bargain Harley’s in Berwick on June 24. There will be information handouts and people can get a hotdog or sausage in exchange for a free-will donation.
The group will be participating in the Annapolis Valley Exhibition in Lawrencetown, Berwick Gala Days, and the New Minas Santa Clause Parade. Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers has a mock jail float that is often entered into community parades such as the Apple Blossom Festival Grand Street Parade, for example, to help raise awareness.
Anonymous tips
Anyone who has information on a crime and wishes to remain anonymous can call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477); submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca; or use the P3 Tips App.
When a person calls or uses the internet to submit a tip, they are issued a tip number. Crime Stoppers sends the tip to the appropriate police agency. Police send Crime Stoppers an update, which is given to the tipster should they call back.
If the tipster is entitled to a reward, arrangements are made to meet at a public place for them to receive payment.
For more information or to download a volunteer application form, visit www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.
Origins of Crime Stoppers
In 1976, Greg MacAleese, a Canadian-born police officer working in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was investigating a robbery-murder that occurred at a gas bar. The crime occurred in a well-travelled area, but no one would come forward with information out of apathy or fear of retaliation.
MacAleese believed the case could be solved, and approached his chief of police, businesses, and the media with an idea. To overcome apathy and fear of retaliation, tipsters would be offered complete anonymity and a cash reward.
A local television station agreed to produce a re-enactment of the crime. It aired during their newscast, at around 10:45 p.m. By 8 a.m. the next morning, the crime was solved. Crime Stoppers helped solve 300 crimes over the following four months, and the program took off.
Need to know
Information about Crime Stoppers.
• Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2023. Over the years, there have been about 170,000 tips received from across the province. About 3,500 arrests have resulted from those tips.
• Today, there are more than 1,700 Crime Stoppers programs in 26 countries worldwide, all operating under the same ideas and principles that guided founder Greg MacAleese in 1976.
• Crime Stoppers promotes the reduction of crime through community-based efforts to provide appropriate authorities with the information needed to lay charges against those responsible.
• Crime Stoppers guarantees the anonymity of tipsters. When a person calls, Crime Stoppers doesn’t ask for a name, calls aren’t traced, and there is no caller ID on the phones.
• If a tipster opts to make a web-based tip, the tip goes through several secure stages which eliminate any information which may be used to identify the tipster.
• Crime Stoppers will not even reveal the gender of the tipster should they be asked by law enforcement.
