Ottawa Police temporarily suspend Crime Stoppers after data breach affects 1.5M tips

Ottawa Police suspended use of its Crime Stoppers reporting platform Friday evening following a national data breach that exposed anonymous tips across Canada.

The breach compromised Canadian Crime Stoppers tips, with personally identifiable information in many of them. The leaked data spans multiple years. a reporter, which exposed the scope of the breach, prompted the suspensions: at least six Ontario police units have now paused Crime Stoppers use.

Ottawa's Crime Stoppers platform operates independently from the Ottawa Police Service's internal systems, so the breach did not directly compromise police databases. But the disclosure has blocked a key anonymous reporting channel. Police have directed the public to report crimes, suspicious activity, or information on ongoing investigations by calling 613-236-1222, extension 3000, or by visiting ottawapolice.ca/report. Emergency calls remain 911; non-emergency calls use 613-236-1222.

Police acknowledged a trade-off: direct contact "doesn't necessarily offer the same anonymity as Crime Stoppers," a spokesperson said. The platform's independent operation means it held information separately, but CBC was unable to determine in every case whether leaked records belonged to tipsters, victims, or the accused — a gap that underscores the sensitivity of the data that was exposed.

The suspension is temporary, but no timeline for review has been stated.