Your Guide to CrimeStoppers

Apathy and fear are two of the primary reasons people don’t come forward to the police with vital information about crimes. That’s where the Crimestoppers UK charity provide an invaluable service - enabling people to submit valuable crime-related information without fear, securely and anonymously. Read on to find out more about Crimestoppers. What is Crime Stoppers? Crimestoppers or Crime Stoppers was started back in July 1976 in Albuguerque, New Mexico, USA. Detective Greg MacAleese realised that fear and apathy often prevented people from coming forward with useful information that would help to solve crimes. So he helped design a system that focused on stimulating community involvement and enabling people to anonymously come forward with useful information. Since having been started in the USA Crimestoppers has been responsible for more than half a million arrests and in excess of $4 billion in recovered property. Six years after Crimestoppers originated in the USA Detective Inspector Mike Cole from Norfolk Constabulary, learned about the scheme on a police visit to Peoria, in Illinois. He was impressed by the fact that information was provided anonymously and if the information provided led to an arrest people would potentially receive a financial reward, funded by local businesses. But it wasn’t until 1988 that a national operation was started in the UK. A charity was established to fund the UK operation that was initially called Community Action Trust. The charity was renamed the Crimestoppers Trust in 1995 by which time it had grown to encompass the whole of the UK. How Does CrimeStoppers Work? As previously noted, in the USA Crimestoppers has delivered over half a million arrests and recovered more than four billion dollars in property. In the UK the service has resulted in £367 million worth of drugs being seized, £139 million worth of goods recovered and more than 151,000 arrests. In the UK, as well as providing the facility to report information about crimes, Crimestoppers UK continuously run a variety of widely respected and highly effective campaigns. For example, they are currently promoting a new appeal by the National Crime Agency to trace and bring to justice 12 of the UK’s most wanted fugitives, believed to be hiding in Spain and the Canary Islands. At time of writing two of these criminals have already been identified and arrested. Another of their current campaigns is focused on promoting Safer Communities. The campaign aims to raise awareness of their anonymous crime reporting service and share useful information from Neighbourhood Watch to enable communities protect themselves from opportunist thieves. It`s important to be aware that while Crimestoppers works with the police they are not part of the UK police force. Crimestoppers provides a service that enables people who do not want to deal directly with the police to submit the information they have anonymously and safely. Trained Crimestoppers people pass this information on to the relevant police force. In 2020 Crimestoppers UK received over half a million pieces of information. If the information provided leads to an arrest then the person reporting it becomes eligible for a reward which acts as a powerful incentive, encouraging others to come forward with useful information. Is CrimeStoppers Anonymous? People often ask if Crimestoppers is really anonymous. The answer is yes - it is entirely anonymous. The unique Crimestoppers service is specifically designed to protect the identities of those who submit information, either by telephone or via their online form facility. Confidence in the security of their service is reflected in their guarantee of anonymity. And it`s worth noting that ever since Crimestoppers UK was started nobody who has ever submitted information to them has ever been identified. When people contact Crimestoppers they are never asked to reveal their identities or any personal details. Telephone calls are not recorded and they do not keep records of any personal information that may be revealed during the call. They never make note of people’s accents, gender, ethnicity or apparent age. They don’t use the caller line display or the 1471 facility and have never traced a call. When people submit information via their online form the IP addresses of their computers are masked and can’t ever be traced. Does CrimeStoppers Pay? Crimestoppers pay cash rewards of up to £1000 for information that leads to one or more people being arrested or is of significant benefit to law enforcement agencies. People reporting crimes or submitting information are provided, on request, with a reward code and are asked to call back in 8 weeks to find out if there has been a positive result. This form of reward is called an ‘ordinary reward’. If a positive result is attained, in response to a report, the reward must be confirmed by the Crimestoppers CEO, which can take in excess of 4 weeks. In addition to their ordinary rewards Crimestoppers can also award what are called ‘enhanced rewards’. These tend to be larger amounts, up to a maximum of £10,000 that can be requested by police forces. This form of reward is usually offered for cases involving vulnerable people or where there is the risk of more offences or in situations where fear in the community has escalated. Applications for enhanced rewards must be endorsed by a senior police officer such as a Detective Chief Inspector or Detective Superintendent. How to Contact CrimeStoppers UK There are two primary methods for contacting Crimestoppers UK: by telephone or via their online form. Their UK telephone number is: 0800 555111. This phone number is operational 24 hours a day, every day of the year including all holidays. As noted, all callers are guaranteed anonymity. In addition they provide a user-friendly online submission form that guides and prompts people for the required information. For example, users are prompted to select what the crime is from a drop down list. This is followed by a request for details of where the crime or incident took place, the time it took place and exactly what was witnessed or heard. It goes on to collect additional information without asking for anything personal and without any interactive contact. Crimestoppers supports submissions from people who don’t speak English by using a translation service. Their website is packed full of incredibly useful crime prevention guidance covering everything from rural crime to online safety and cybercrime. If you have not added the Crimestoppers telephone number to your contacts list - now is the time.

For more information on Your Guide to CrimeStoppers talk to Insight Security