Crime Stoppers International

Crime Stoppers International Foundation or CSI Foundation (CSI) is an umbrella organization that aims to spread the Crime Stoppers program in countries around the world. Crime Stoppers is a program designed to utilize the media and other resources to entice information from the public that can facilitate police investigations. CSI is run by a volunteer board and its activities include hosting annual training conferences and supporting regional leadership and training programs. CSI coordinates networking resources for local Crime Stoppers' operations, such as a website and a print publication called The Caller. It is funded by dues paid by member organizations.

The Crime Stoppers program began in the 1970s as an effort to solve a crime that was committed with no witnesses and few leads for police investigators. The main goal is to produce televised re-enactments, offer rewards and promises of anonymity for information leading to an arrest. Detective Greg MacAleese was investigating the murder of a gas station attendant, Michael Carmen, in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976 when he came up with the idea.

Crime Stoppers Canada
In Canada, a Supreme Court of Canada decision R. v. Leipert, [1997] 1 S.C.R. 281 ruled unanimously that police do not have to disclose any information they receive from the crime prevention program. "The rule of informer privilege is of such fundamental importance to the workings of a criminal justice system it cannot be balanced against other interest relating to the administration of justice...Once the privilege has been established, neither the police nor the court possesses discretion to abridge it."

Crime Stoppers Barbados
In 2009, it was reported that information from Crime Stoppers had resulted in 18 arrests, 34 charges and 23 cases cleared for the year. One of Barbados' leading newspapers additionally reported that Crime Stoppers Barbados Inc. was to-date the fastest growing of the worldwide organisations belonging to the group. Tony Phillips, as chairman of the local unit stated that "Over 90 per cent of the tips have been useful . . . [and] the success ratio is well documented by the police force." Regarding the local unit, Philips further maintained, "They [Crime Stoppers] have never seen one of the organisations develop as quickly as we have, and I think that it is a significant achievement. Tips have been on or above average for a Crimestoppers International, exceeding 50 per month, which is the average for international organisations," he stated.

Crime Stoppers Guatemala
In Guatemala Crime Stoppers signed an agreement with the Ministry of the Interior (Governance) and operates tupista.gt, a website collecting anonymous tips. Crime Stoppers Guatemala, with the support of INL, launched the call center in late 2021. During 2022, the call center received over 37,000 calls from citizens.