2021 was memorable for many things, but for Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington (CSGW), it was the tremendous impact anonymous crime reporting had in the community.
In comparison to 2020, which was another solid year for Tips and results from that information, 2021 was truly impactful, even though the number of Tips was down slightly.
Even with a 15% decrease in Tip volume, CSGW is reporting that 13 cases were solved in 2021, up from 8 in 2020. A total of 17 individuals were arrested last year, up 7 the year before: a 143% increase. There were 76 charges laid in 2021, up 130% from the 33 charges in 2020. The CSGW Board of Directors approved $4,935 in Tipster rewards, up 137% from 2020, when $2,085 were approved.
But the most impressive numbers come from Property Recovered as a result of successful investigations.
In 2020 $50,765 in personal property (including cash) was recovered, but in 2021 that number increased to $109,300 – a 115% increase. The amount of drugs recovered from successful investigations in 2020 was $20,505, but skyrocketed to 2,347% in 2021 with $501,679 in narcotics seized.
In total, 2020 saw $71,270 in Property and Drugs recovered, which hit an astounding $610,979 in 2021 – a noteworthy 757% increase in one year.
“These numbers are incredible, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Sarah Bowers-Peter, Program Coordinator for CSGW. “They tell us that even though the overall volume of Tips may be lower, the quality of the Tips is very high. We’ll take quality over quantity any day. Thank you to all our anonymous Tipsters who were brave enough to share what they know and make such tremendous and positive impact on our communities.”
CSGW Chair Deryck West agreed.
“Looking at these results, I feel the takeaway is that the community trusts Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington with information about these serious crimes,” he said. “Because of the confidential information they provided while being anonymous, we have been able to inform our investigative partners of situations they might not be aware of, or help an existing investigation be even more impactful. This is why Crime Stoppers is here in the City of Guelph and County of Wellington.”
Annual statistics are always shared in January, which is Crime Stoppers Month. The Theme for 2022 is Stop The Crime of Human Trafficking. Remember, if you are interested in learning more about CSGW, please go to www.csgw.tips. To provide an anonymous tip on criminal activity, go to www.csgw.tips or call 1-800-222-TIPS.
