Amid a recent spate of Lower Mainland gang-related shootings in Surrey, Coquitlam, Richmond and other areas, people are being asked to submit more tips to local police agencies.
Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers says more than 500 anonymous tips about gang-related activities and illegal weapons were received in 2020, about a tenth of all tips received, said a news release.
Those tips are being credited with leading directly to arrests.
“With the spike in recent gang-related activity in the Lower Mainland, Crime Stoppers is urging local residents to keep providing anonymous tips with information that could help police investigate, make more arrests and save lives,” said Linda Annis, executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, in the news release.
Here’s how some of the tips to Crime Stoppers in 2020 break down:
- Total gang activity/illegal guns tips in 2020: 510
- Number of tips related specifically to illegal guns: 401
- Number of arrests based on tips about gang or illegal gun activity: 21
- Number of charges laid: 34
- Number of illegal weapons seized: 17
Here are some other 2020 Crime Stoppers statistics:
Year-end statistics for 2020 just published by Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers’ in its annual Impact Report show 5,017 tips were received for all categories of crime (compares closely with 5,137 tips received in 2019). Information from these tips led to 72 arrests and 135 charges laid in 2020.
In addition, more than $2.7 million in property and illicit drugs were seized last year including 16 vehicles. Since the inception of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers more than 35 years ago, more than 8,200 arrests have been made and half-a-billion dollars in property and drugs have been recovered, said the release.
