December 15, 2005 - 4:00pm
Malaspina University-College and Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers are teaming up to improve safety at the Nanaimo campus.
"We’re announcing a new partnership that's a pro-active approach to crime prevention on our campus," said Dr. Patrick Ross, Malaspina’s Vice-President, Student Services. "The objectives are to enhance safety and support students and employees by providing information on crime prevention. We’re building a community approach to managing safety on campus."
Chuck Campbell, first Vice-President of Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers, and former police coordinator for Crime Stoppers, said he’s excited about the new partnership.
"Our mandate is to help police solve crimes," said Campbell. "We do that in a number of ways, including through partnerships with organizations and communities, such as the community of Malaspina University-College. Increasing public awareness about how people can access the Crime Stoppers system helps us do a better job of achieving our mandate."
Malaspina Criminology student Vikram Kulkarni, a member of the Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers board, approached Dr. Ross in November with the idea of launching the Crime Stoppers program at Malaspina. "In November, we formed a partnership with Western Student Housing, which manages Malaspina’s student residences," said Kulkarni. "We decided it makes sense to expand the program to include the whole Malaspina community."
On January 19, Malaspina and Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers will launch an on-campus awareness campaign, including information sessions on home, vehicle, community and personal safety.
Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to anonymous persons who call in with information leading to an arrest. It has grown into a worldwide organization and has solved over a half a million crimes and recovered over $5-billion worth of stolen property and narcotics. Today, there are over 1,000 Crime Stoppers programs in countries around the world.
Since 1995, Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers has received almost 2,000 tips that have resulted in over $5-million in property and drugs being seized. Over $50,000 has been paid in tip rewards.
The local program is a civilian, non-profit, community organization dedicated to assisting police in solving crime in the Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Gabriola Island areas. As there is no government funding, Nanaimo & District Crime Stoppers relies totally on community support.
Tags: In the Community
