About Us
Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers is a community-based charitable organization that brings together the public, police, and the media to help prevent and solve crime.
The program empowers people to report information about criminal activity safely and anonymously, helping law enforcement identify suspects, and improve community safety.
Since its inception, Crime Stoppers has played an important role in supporting investigations involving everything from property crime and fraud to drug trafficking, wanted persons, and other serious offences. The organization also works proactively through crime prevention education, public awareness campaigns, and community outreach initiatives that encourage residents to recognize suspicious activity and take steps to protect themselves and their neighbourhoods.
Anyone with information about a crime can submit an anonymous tip without revealing their identity. Tips can be provided by calling 519-258-8477 (TIPS), submitting a secure online tip through the Crime Stoppers website here.
Crime Stoppers never asks for your name, phone number, or identifying information, and anonymous tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward if the information they provide leads to an arrest or the recovery of stolen property. By removing the fear of coming forward, Crime Stoppers gives everyone the opportunity to help make Windsor and Essex County a safer place to live, work, and raise a family.
Windsor-Essex Crime Stoppers History
Early in 1985, Windsor Police Service Detective, Bill Stephens, was asked to study the Crime Stoppers program and to take the initial steps required to establish one in Windsor and Essex County.
This initiative was done at the request of the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce, which was the driving force behind the establishment of Crime Stoppers in this area. A civilian Board of Directors was formed with its support and expertise.
After months of planning, Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers, Inc. started operating on April 15, 1985 with Detective Bill Stephens as its first Coordinator and Bob Pedler as its first Chairperson. It had an operating fund of $2,500, money which had been donated by the Windsor & District Labour Council, the Kinsmen Club of Windsor and the Windsor Police Association.
Since its inception, Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers, Inc. has been awarded the Marla Moon Award of Excellence eight times for the best Crime Stoppers program in Ontario. The program has also won several productivity awards, media awards and social media awards during this time. In addition, the program has received several awards from the Ontario Crime Control Commission.
How Crime Stoppers is Organized
Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers is a registered charitable, not-for-profit organization led by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of community members. The Board provides strategic direction for the organization, oversees its financial stewardship, and supports public awareness and fundraising initiatives. Their leadership ensures Crime Stoppers remains a trusted, community-driven program dedicated to making Windsor and Essex County safer.
How Crime Stoppers is Funded
Crime Stoppers operates without government funding. Every aspect of the program including community education, awareness campaigns, and cash rewards is made possible through the generous support of individuals, businesses, service clubs, grants, and fundraising events.
Anonymous Tips and Cash Rewards
The Board of Directors meets regularly to review cases where anonymous tips have helped police solve crimes or make arrests. Based on the value of the information provided, the Board may authorize a cash reward of up to $2,000. Rewards are distributed in a way that protects the tipster's anonymity. While many eligible tipsters choose not to collect a reward, every anonymous tip helps make our community safer by supporting police investigations and preventing crime.
Crime Stoppers exists as a functioning partnership between law enforcement, the media and most importantly, the community. We would not be able to operate without the support from all three of these partners. We operate as the conduit to pass anonymous information to assist in solving crimes that have happened or are about to happen.
— Cst. Amanda Allen, Police Coordinator
Community safety is at the heart of what Crime Stoppers does. Our program offers educational workshops for high schools, collage and universities, and community centers.
History of Crime Stoppers
When a young college student, Michael Carmen, was shot to death during a robbery at a gas station in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 1976, Detective Greg MacAleese had no idea who was responsible for the killing.
No witnesses came forward and it appeared that the senseless and brutal shotgun slaying would remain a mystery.
MacAleese conceived the idea of producing a video re-enactment of the homicide, guaranteed anonymity for anyone who was willing to call him with information and put up a reward from his own pocket to encourage someone to provide a lead that would help identify those responsible for the murder of Carmen.
At that time Albuquerque had one of the highest per capita crime rates in the country and people were afraid to help the police.
Nevertheless, MacAleese’ plan to identify those responsible for killing Carmen worked. Within a few hours after the recreation of the murder was broadcasted on television station KOAT, he received a phone call. The video image had triggered the memory of a person who heard a loud bang in the vicinity of the gas bar and then saw a car driving off. The caller told MacAleese the vehicle belonged to a resident in a nearby apartment complex.
“Through investigation, MacAleese and a team of detectives arrested two men within 72 hours and charged them with the murder of Carmen as well as a string of armed robberies.”
MacAleese received other calls following the re-enactment, including one that allowed police to solve the sexual assault of a young woman. Realizing that this type of program might be useful in fighting crime, MacAleese convinced the Albuquerque Police Department to allow a group of citizens to establish the first Crime Stoppers program.
For his efforts, Detective MacAleese was named one of the people in the 1970's who changed the face of the United States and was also named the country's Police officer of the Year. It is also interesting to note that since adopting Crime Stoppers, Albuquerque's crime rate has dropped significantly and no longer is ranked in the list of 20 cities with the highest per capita crime rate.
Program Founder Detective Greg MacAleese