NCJ Number
205284
Date Published
December 2003
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This document discusses an evaluation of the Crime Stoppers Victoria (CSV) program.
Abstract
CSV is a program that is based on a joint effort between the community, police, and the media. The community provides information about suspicious and illegal behavior. Victoria Police Department staff operates the Crime Stoppers call center, where they receive and process crime information, then refer it to appropriate investigators. The media publicize details of particular crimes and “wanted” people, as well as report arrests and provide crime prevention advice. Evaluating the success of a Crime Stoppers is difficult because it is impossible to determine whether the program is actually solving crimes or is simply diverting calls from traditional channels of communication. An evaluation can include a number of measures that reflect the achievements of a Crime Stoppers program. They include the level of community awareness of the program; media support for the program; participation in the program by the community; relative value of calls to the program; perception of the program by police; and the economic value of the program. The results of the evaluation showed that CSV achieved a most acceptable level of success as measured by the percentage of calls that led to arrests. It was financially cost-effective returning a total benefit almost five times its direct costs. It registered substantial support from the public almost all of who are willing to report matters to CSV in the future. It received significant support from criminal investigators and operational police with about half of the CSV Information Reports assessed as containing useful information. CSV received effective and attractive media coverage leading to arrests for 5 percent of its “target crimes” and the location of 23 percent of the “wanted” persons featured in print media coverage. CSV should work towards increasing the level of feedback from investigators; continue its community education programs; better inform police of the ways they can be assisted; and increase the volume of calls to Crime Stoppers. 2 tables, 1 figure, 8 references