Governor Proclaims Crime Stoppers Month in Its Fourth Decade

Bloomington, MN, January 16, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Crime Stoppers of Minnesota begins its fourth decade of operation in Minnesota with January being proclaimed by Governor Tim Pawlenty as Crime Stoppers of Minnesota Recognition Month. (View the proclamation in full at www.crimestoppersmn.org News and Events) Crime Stoppers of Minnesota is a non profit organization separate and independent of government that collects information about crimes while keeping the tipster anonymous. Crime Stoppers works in coordination with law enforcement agencies across the State which the Governor’s proclamation highlights has been useful in recovery of $8.3 million in property and drugs. Crime Stoppers of Minnesota was the second Crime Stoppers organization formed in the nation in 1979, where today there are about 500 such organizations across the USA and a total of 1300 worldwide.

By keeping tipsters anonymous Crime Stoppers provides the public and persons that may be reluctant to ‘get involved’ or may have a fear of reprisal, with an alternative place to go to ‘do the right thing’ and come forward with information about crimes. A reward of up to $1,000 may be paid if the tip leads to an arrest and charging in a crime.

Crime Stoppers of Minnesota began as a Twin Cities focused effort but now accepts and distributes tip information across the State and worldwide. The original phone call answered by a volunteer has been replaced with technology now in place that takes calls toll free 24/7 in any language; accepts tips on a multilingual website; and has the ability to receive tips by SMS text messaging. No matter what the method used contacts are scrubbed of Caller ID or URL content to remove any possibility of identifying who is calling.

Tips are reviewed by Crime Stoppers of Minnesota to determine which law enforcement agency the tip will be sent to for investigation. Nick Luciano, the Crime Stoppers Board of Directors President says “our technology makes us a useful crime fighting tool to law enforcement as geographically diverse as from Rock County in the southwest corner to Cook County in the arrowhead.”

The Governor’s proclamation noted that Crime Stoppers of Minnesota operates as a non profit. Luciano who is Vice President of Hannon Security Services, Inc in Bloomington, MN, noted that “as we begin this fourth decade we have to work harder for donations to keep our systems fully operational and maintain the ability to pay rewards…… a challenge in this economy for us as well as for other non profits.”

Luciano went on to note that “for every tip we get, or crime that we feature on our website there is a victim and usually several victims, but there is also somebody who knows information that can help and they can stay anonymous.” Crime Stoppers can be contacted at the toll free number of 1-800-222-TIPS (8477); at the website www.crimestoppersmn.org ; or by SMS texting TIP674, the message, then SEND to 274637.

Those who want to support Crime Stoppers of Minnesota through a donation can go to the Support Us tab at the Crime Stoppers website or go to www.givemn.org and type in ‘crime’.

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Contact
Robert Dennistoun
Executive Director
Crime Stoppers of Minnesota
rdennistoun@hannonsecurity.com
www.crimestoppersmn.org
Office 952-703-1512
Cell 651-452-7463
Available anytime for calls or interviews

Nicholas Luciano
Hannon Security Services, Inc.
President, Board of Directors
Crime Stoppers of Minnesota
952-887-1120
Available by pre-arranged appointment

About Crime Stoppers of Minnesota
Crime Stoppers of Minnesota is a 501(c)3 charitable organization organized to collect information about crimes in such a manner that the tipster will remain anonymous and may receive a reward of up to $1,000 if that tip leads to an arrest and charging in a criminal case. The technology in place also lets Crime Stoppers communicate back to the tipster, which is useful when authorities are seeking clarification of information or additional information. This is able to be done and still keep the tipster anonymous at all times. Robert Dennistoun is an employee of Hannon Security Services Inc (www.hannonsecurity.com) on loan to Crime Stoppers of Minnesota to serve as its Executive Director. It is the goal of Crime Stoppers to coordinate with every media outlet that when reporting the need for more information about a crime the contact information for Crime Stoppers of Minnesota be included as it is not necessary for prior approval to promote the use of Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers of Minnesota depends on tax deductible donations to keep this program operating. Donations can be made at the Support Us tab of the Crime Stoppers website or at www.givemn.org and typing in ‘crime’.