Province-wide freeze on Crime Stoppers program after data breach

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The fallout from the Crime Stoppers data breach continues in police departments across the province. 

Alongside Toronto and other Greater Toronto Area police services, other law enforcement services in Ontario are now pausing their partnership with Crime Stoppers. 

“The Brantford Police Service have a longstanding partnership with the Brant-Brantford Crime Stoppers and have been working closely with the organization, seeking further information to better understand the reported incident, the potential impact on confidential information, and the measures implemented to address any identified security concerns,” Brantford Police Service said in a media release. “Brantford police will assess this information before determining whether to resume use of the program.” 

In the last week, police services in London, St. Thomas, Woodstock, Chatham-Kent and Windsor have also announced a pause with local Crime Stoppers chapters.  

“We will reassess our partnership with Crime Stoppers once appropriate safeguards and security measures have been implemented,” said Karel DeGraaf, Deputy Chief of Operational Support with the Windsor Police Service.  

Closer to home

The tip lines freeze comes less than a week after Toronto Crime Stoppers said they were not accepting information from the public after a hacking group reportedly targeted the company that manages tips across Canada to show its platform is far from “secure.” 

“Until we have a safer way to protect you, please do not send us tips by phone, online or through the app,” Toronto chapter chair Sean Sportun said in an Oct. 21 statement.

Last Thursday, police in Hamilton, Peel and Halton regions also suspended their use of the anonymous call-in tipster program.

Halton Police said in a statement the Crime Stoppers program is not connected to their internal systems.

“Members of the public who wish to provide information about a crime or public safety concern are encouraged to contact us directly through our existing reporting channels,” police said in a statement. 

When did data breaches begin?

Navigate360, the American company that oversees all the Crime Stoppers international tips, said its system had been hacked earlier this year. 

“On or about March 18, 2026, Navigate360 became aware of suspicious activity on one of its systems,” an Oct. 23 release said.  

But some of the Ontario data breaches didn’t become public record until June. 

“Navigate360 launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, which determined that an unauthorized third party accessed one of our systems and obtained copies of some data between November 21, 2025 to March 5, 2026,” the company said. 

CBC reported that at least 11 Crime Stoppers programs have announced a pause in the tip line, with as many as 24 police departments across Canada suspending their partnership with Crime Stoppers. 

ganderson@postmedia.com

With files from Jordan Ercit and Spiro Papuckoski

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