How did Crime Stoppers begin?
In July, 1976, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a university student was killed during a gas station robbery. After 6 weeks of investigation, the police had very few leads as to who was responsible. Police investigators thought that if the public was able to observe a re-enactment of the crime on television, this might lead to a citizen providing information that may lead to an arrest.
The police investigators were right. A caller contacted the police department the next day after seeing the re-enactment. The tip information provided was enough to lead the police to the two men who were responsible. Within 72 hours of the re-enactment being aired, the police investigators had solved the murder. This was the beginning of Crime Stoppers.
Since the program started, there are now more than 1700 Crime Stoppers programs worldwide in 32 countries. The first BC Crime Stoppers program was launched in 1982. In British Columbia, each Crime Stoppers program is community based.
The Prince George Crime Stoppers Association was formed in 1985 to serve the city of Prince George. In October, 2020, Prince George Crime Stoppers changed its name to Northern BC Crime Stoppers and now serves over 30 communities in Northern BC, north to the Yukon Border, south to Williams Lake, west to Smithers and east to the Alberta border.
