Cash rewards are based on the usefulness of a tip in solving a crime.
The payouts are higher for more serious crimes such as murder, sexual assault, illegal drug seizures & distribution, weapons seizures & distribution, human trafficking, etc. For less severe crimes like vandalism, petty theft, etc., the cash rewards are smaller.
Rewards are approved by the local Crime Stoppers Board of Directors. Rewards can be up to $2,000.
Crime Stoppers does not use any form of caller identification, tracing or tracking. We do not collect any personal information from our citizens, so you remain completely anonymous. After submitting a tip, you will be provided a unique code to use when checking the status of your tip or picking up your reward.
We are NOT the police.
All local Crime Stoppers programs act as the "intermediary" between the Tipster and the investigative/police agency. They are not-for-profits and mostly registered charities that are operated by volunteers from the community. The programs rely on donations from sponsors, community partners and the public through individual fundraisers, to support their efforts.
In the event of an emergency, if you are the victim of a crime or if you witness a crime in action, always call 9-1-1.
Please only contact Crime Stoppers to anonymously to provide a tip about an unsolved case or suspected criminal activity.
Once you check in with Crime Stoppers, you will be advised of the amount of the reward approved by the local Board of Directors. You will be given specific instructions on how and where to pick up the cash.
It is a safe public setting and is different for every tipster. You never have to identify yourself.
Questions on Anonymity
The law states that when a person provides information to the police in response to a guarantee of confidentiality, that person’s identity is protected by the rule of Informer Privilege. The courts have held that this privilege extends to those providing information anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
When the privilege applies, it acts as a complete bar on the disclosure of the informer’s identity, and the police, the Crown and the courts are bound to uphold it.
Informer Privilege does not apply to a communication to Crime Stoppers made with the intention of furthering criminal activity or interfering with the administration of justice.
Informer Privilege may exist but may be limited or set aside in whole or in part, where there is evidence that disclosure of some or all of a tip is necessary to establish someone’s innocence.
The clearest example would be a caller who intentionally gives false information in order to direct police attention away from the subject of a criminal investigation or prosecution. The caller could be the suspect, or a close associate. Callers intentionally giving false information to try to get an innocent person into trouble would also face losing this protection.
A caller using the tip line to make threats, against persons or property, could also be denied the privilege.
Not if you have acted in good faith. Mistakes happen, and a tipster whose information turns out to be incorrect in one or more respects will still be protected if he or she acted with good intentions, believing at the time that the information would be useful in an investigation.
When a question arises about the proper application of Informer Privilege, a private court hearing must take place, usually in the absence of the accused person, before a judge will rule on whether the protection of privilege remains. The privilege is presumed to apply until the judge rules otherwise.
When there is a basis on the evidence to believe that information in a tip may help to show an accused person’s innocence, and if the same information is not available from any other source, a trial judge must follow a carefully prescribed line of inquiry. If the judge concludes that innocence is indeed at stake, the judge may direct that an edited version of the tip, containing only those portions needed to show innocence, be disclosed to the accused.
No. Crown prosecutors are highly committed to protecting the anonymity of all informants, including Crime Stoppers tipsters. If a finding of innocence at stake is made, the Crown still has the option of directing a stay of the charge before disclosing.
The tipster may be a material witness to the crime. An accused person has a right to face his or her accuser, so a material witness (someone who saw the crime committed, and would have important first-hand information to offer) must be identified. Material witnesses should properly be talking directly to the police, rather than to Crime Stoppers. This includes victims of crimes, for obvious reasons. The victim cannot be anonymous to the accused (although this is different from a ban on publication of the name of the victim, which can be put in place in appropriate cases).
