TORONTO -- In one of the most dangerous areas of Toronto, Mac's Convenience Stores and Crime Stoppers launched a new social-media campaign to help police fight crime, according to a report in Digital Journal.
With the launch of Crime Busters, a partnership between Crime Stoppers and Mac's, if a crime happens at a Mac’s store, the criminal’s picture will be blasted out on Facebook and Twitter via @MacsCrimeBuster using the store's surveillance cameras and DVR units. Those images will also have the description of the suspects and their alleged crimes with an appeal to the public to call Crime Stoppers if they have any information to help solve the crime.
"We hope this forward-thinking approach to crime prevention will assist in the resolution of unsolved crimes," Sean Sportun, manager, Security & Loss Prevention, for Mac's in Central Canada, said in a press release.
Those images will not just be on social-media outlets. Inside each store, there will be notices at the front door and on their in-store media screens with images of suspects. When suspects are arrested, their pictures will be replaced with a title "apprehended."
"We have the technology and we are going to use it," Tom Moher, Mac’s vice president of operations in Central Canada, said in a press release. "By using social media, we will reach a more diverse demographic in our effort to combat crime and enhance public safety."
When a person makes an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers, they are eligible for a cash reward. Mac's will be covering the $200 reward on suspects recovered via Crime Stoppers in this program.
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