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i i hemnomsurbu social issues saturday jan 132001 crime stoppers month in york region by kathleen griffin lv staff writer when a 22yearold man was shot numerous times at a georgina house party last summer police spent months scouring the region for the suspect it wasnt until autumn when a tip 1 came throughyork region crime stoppers that investigators were able to cement their case locate the basementaparnent in toronto where the suspect was staying and rnakean arrest robert paul morris 20 was charged- with four counts of attempted murder oct26 r while specifics oft cases solved tepughacrime stoppersjtip are rarely made public in this case c torbnto police released the factv they were aided by manytipsthat r mqveprotected the person who niadethecasebreakingtip r january isworldwide crime stoppers month and is an ppportu- v nity to publicize the pfogramandj its partners -r- the media for public ity the community for its funding support andthe tipsters ttiem- 1 selves said program director kim killby t 1 tips to york region crime stoppers f during 2000 resulted fii v i 108 arrests 56 million in drugs j iv kj 119350 in property if j recovered r i notabadyear infactthebestl i- ever i o- msq in the year 2000 wauthp- vrizedour- firstever reward and atwastforaharrestj made inaij i 7- v staff photorob alary 3 u v if jvi -h- program director for york regions crime stoppers emphasizes the identity of tipsters is never revealed to calltakers the public police hoi t 0 nfdrmatioribut there or i foctj if therewas cvct al6qurtchallenge to that crime stoppers would request the case be withdrawn from court was bit thatreally helpecuthe u a homicide squad v by mistake theyre advised to hang to be disclosed during a court case crime up and call back soanother opera- -7- and that tip never has a name stbppers month valsb away tor can take the callv tarhphv attached remind the public tlie identity of operators idont have call display the tip itself should ever fall tipsters is protected and they never only grimestoppers- staff talk to have to testify in courts- vthe number callers sotheres no chance case into the hands of a crown attorney or defence lawyer they are printed would request the case be with drawn from court we would rather give up the case than disclose infor mation which could identify the tipster callers can be good citizens blurt out the information and hang onty pi up we probably spend more time trying to keep peopleon the phone was ever a court crime stoppers a sometimes believe iiitkillby saidcrifhestoppers call r takers nare so committed to keeping tlie identity of tipsters secret if k callerlets his or her name slip out brie discover the tip- on horrendous red paper or flupres- many of whom never claim the le sters identities when a tip js writ- cent greenso it cant be copied if cash reward telling officers they didntscall in for the money some calls are for revenge accomplices betraying eaclrotheror upset ex- lovers who have knowledge of a previous crime some are from scared innocent bystanders who find themselves irithe wrong place at the wrong time it doesnt matter who they are theyre all protected killby said t last year the york region crime stoppers authorized a total 15175 in awards a 300iaward was given to a per son wlio had information about several street- robberies in markham a 700 award was autho rized to someone who called with hardttomake theni iv said crirhfi stnhnfirs rail- a 14 11 fc m crime stoppers the statistical story r- a for the year 2000 v reports teken453 vl s made 108 v t yj 1 cases cleared 94 c j svcharges laid 278 jipfoperty recovered 119350 a dnlgs seized 5600045 v m rewardsauthonzed- 15175 ff since the program began v j vc arrests made 1451 f cases cleared 1769 icharges laid 3441 property recovered 3371448 drugs seized 13683132 rewardsauthonzed 88400 information about two homes that may have been used as drug labs when officers executed search war rants evidence led them to two other houses in the region and as a result 3 million worth of marijua na was seized its the largest onetime drug seizure in crime stoppers history in york region killby said but theres always a struggle for funds killby runs yorks program by herself in comparison with toronto crime stoppers which has 13 staffers funds are needed not only for tipster payouts but for promo- tionalpurposes as well this year- for example killby hopes to erect billboards advertis- 6f ingithe program in every york region municipality herideas seemto be working because the york region crime stoppers brought home four awards from an international con ference in vancouver last fall h r t atff