Crimestoppers spreads awareness with Prairie Players

Crimestoppers Manitoba Vice Chair Fran Myles says the local organization is one of three groups that operate in the province. She notes they're trying to promote knowledge of the group and are making videos to accomplish that.

"The videos ideally will be seen as public service announcements on a number of sources, including the Crimestoppers website, hopefully Neepawa Access TV, and anybody else who we can talk into playing the videos. We want to promote the videos and I enlisted people from Prairie Players. They have come out to reenact various things that happen in the course of the policing community."

https://manitobacrimestoppers.com/ Fran Myles

She notes the Manitoba Crimestoppers covers everywhere from the Manitoba border to Churchill.

"The only thing we don't do is Winnipeg and Brandon; they have their own. It's a big enterprise, covers a large distance, and everybody knows there's a lot of crime out there. We need someplace where people can feel safe about reporting crimes and making things better."

Vicki Hooke adds she's involved, seeing as she's part of Prairie Players and wants to help Myles get the word out by way of the videos.

"It's really an excellent resource that we have in our province to help. I have to admit, I've kind of forgotten about it. So, it's really, really a good cause to let people know and they can call in anonymously." 

Tammy Roberts also works with Prairie Players, and adds Myles invited them to help out, and they wholeheartedly felt the cause was a great one.

"There is so much going on in Manitoba itself these days. I mean, it's everywhere, but here, crime, especially. It would be nice to have more people have the knowledge of where to go and how to get help. When Fran asked me, I thought that was a great opportunity and I jumped at it."  

Rachael Clarke was the fourth actor for the video and notes she was also excited to lend her hand.

"Fran's been wanting to do a Crimestoppers video and help spread the word about about this important organization and what it does. There are so many things that happen out there and so many times when people might see something but they're afraid of coming forth or reporting it for the sake of their own personal safety. Sometimes, they don't want to be rats. There are lots of different reasons why people hesitate. Don't be afraid. This is so important to get the word out that Crimestoppers is 100 per cent anonymous. This is a safe way for people to tell their story and to make sure that the cops can help and stop the crime from happening. It's awesome that we're able to do this." 

Myles adds you can always volunteer by calling the Crimestoppers Board at crimestoppers.com. 

"We get funding from places like the Kinsmen Jackpot Bingo. The RCMP supports us, and we also have donations from other people. But we don't get government money, so whatever we get goes to paying the rewards for people who have actual information that lead to an arrest, that's part of what the board does. We determine how much money you get. We pay out up to $2,000 and it's completely anonymous. Paying the rewards is something like doing a drug deal. If you go out in the middle of the field, you park under the tree, and the brown sedan driver comes up, yells his tip number out, you hand the money over, and drive away. It's always cash."

She adds they also have arrangements with a Credit Union where you can go in and give your number and get your reward. 

"It's kind of an interesting process, really. If you want to get involved, you can simply call Crimestoppers, and tell us that you want to be involved. We're also looking for board members. We're looking for people to help, and the more people who report the crimes, the more effective we can all be."