Begun in 1976 with police advertising particular crimes and offering informants awards and anonymity through the mass media, Crime Stoppers has been widely accepted, drawing praise from the public, law enforcement, and media. A recent Canadian metropolitan survey revealed that 97 percent of respondents were aware of the program, and 88 percent believed it helped police stop crime. Because crimes reported through the program account for a small percentage of serious crimes, the amount of criminal activity in a given area remains unaffected by the program. Although Crime Stoppers claimed to have recovered $16.35 in stolen Canadian property for each dollar spent in 1985, new cost-effectiveness analysis is recommended. Other problems related to the program are dangers to civil liberties, the guarantee of informant anonymity increasing the likelihood of deceptive or illegal informant behavior, the award of money to informants encouraging an economic relationship between police and the public, and a portrayal of crime in the media that makes the world seem more violent than it is. 1 table, 12 notes, and 32 references.