A rural crime awareness campaign by Alberta Crime Stoppers is now visible in Rocky Mountain House, with new highway signs encouraging residents to report suspicious activity anonymously.

Four signs have been delivered to the area, with two already installed along Highway 11 and two more headed to nearby First Nations communities. The campaign aims to raise awareness about Crime Stoppers in smaller communities, where officials say crime has been rising at a faster rate than in urban areas.

“You may have read through Statistics Canada that crime is up significantly in rural areas,” said David King, a director with Calgary Crime Stoppers and a representative of the Alberta Crime Stoppers Association. “This is about helping people know that if they see something or hear something, they probably know something—and they can report it anonymously.”

Unlike urban centres like Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Red Deer, where tips are handled by local Crime Stoppers chapters, rural tips are managed centrally and passed on to the RCMP.

King adds, in smaller communities like Rocky where everyone knows their neighbors, the ability to report information confidentially is especially critical.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for people to help reduce crime without fear of being identified,” he said, adding that tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of up to $2,000 if their information leads to an arrest.

Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization that allows people to submit tips anonymously by phone, online, or through a mobile app.

The high-quality signs are manufactured by ATS Traffic and are provided at no cost to municipalities. The only requirement, says King, is that local administrations have to install them.

Residents can submit tips confidentially to 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).