Bruno Niederer wants his grandchildren to grow up in a safe community.
On Wednesday the owner of Performance Kia helped make it happen, donating a 2012 Kia Sorrento to the Thunder Bay and District Crime Stoppers program, part of his ongoing commitment to the community-funded organization.
“I believe it’s a good cause for a safer community, a safer Northwestern Ontario,” said Niederer after handing over the keys to the already decaled vehicle.
“I think all businesses should do their part because Thunder Bay should be safe.”
The well-known program has proven quite effective in the region since it first arrived in the Thunder Bay area in 1986.
According to figures provided by Crime Stoppers, they’ve made 2,642 arrests, solved 3,186 cases, recovered $4.4 million in property and seized $29.1 million worth of drugs.
Crime Stoppers, which encompasses representation all local police forces, encourages the public to report tips anonymously to police, with monetary rewards when convictions are made an added incentive to do so.
Const. Jason Disher, the OPP co-ordinator for Crime Stoppers, said the program has had an enormous impact on crime in Thunder Bay and its surrounding communities.
“We get numerous tips, numerous in the thousands, every year,” Disher said. “Crime Stoppers is a worldwide program and in Thunder Bay … it helps solve all kinds of crimes – missing people, break and enters, thefts, robberies. It helps solve all of them.”
Disher added a lot of people want to help police, but they don’t want to face testifying in court or going public, for a variety of reasons.
That’s the beauty of the program, Disher added.
“Police are never given a name or a phone number. In fact, the people who call in aren’t even asked those questions. So it’s a total anonymous program. It’s community-based, so the community, the media and the police all work together.”
Having a businessman like Niederer step forward to contribute is how they keep going, Disher said.
“The community basically runs the program through donations and sponsorships. That’s how this program is run. Without the community we wouldn’t have a program.”
The vehicle will be used to promote Crime Stoppers throughout Northwestern Ontario.
