Crimestoppers
Receives Millionth Call
Crimestoppers, the UK's biggest crime-fighting charity,
has received its one millionth actionable call at its 24:7 call centre
which was about a knife crime in Leicestershire.
An actionable call means useful information that can be passed to the
police which they can act on to make arrests and charges.
This
important milestone - which translates as 136 information logs being
passed to the police every day - coincides with the charity's twentieth
anniversary year.
Set up in 1988 by businessman, Lord Ashcroft, to help the police solve
crimes, Crimestoppers operates the 0800 555 111 telephone number for people
to call with information about crimes anonymously, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
'Since 1988, over 85,000 arrests and charges have been made which breaks
down to eleven arrests and charges every day as a result of information
passed to us. Over 750 people have been charged with murder, £101
million of goods have been recovered and £150 million worth of drugs
have been seized.'
Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Chairman of Crimestoppers, said: 'When I set up the
charity twenty years ago I never dreamt for a moment that we would reach
this incredible milestone. This landmark is testimony to the success of
Crimestoppers and the impact we are making in helping the police to solve
crimes and make our communities safer.
'The beauty of Crimestoppers is that it is a simple but effective 'product'
as it offers the man - and woman - in the street the chance
to fight back against those who are blighting our society.'
Dave Cording, Director of Operations for Crimestoppers, added: 'For twenty
years Crimestoppers has been taking anonymous calls from the public and
we want to say thanks a million to all those people who have helped to
make Britain a safer place to live.
'A majority of the calls we have taken over the years have been about
drug crimes, an issue that UK communities obviously feel very concerned
about. However, it is telling that our millionth actionable call relates
to a knife crime incident which reflects the gun and knife crime issue
that is sweeping large parts of our country at the moment.
'As a charity we are trying everything we can to help the police combat
this violent crime trend by working at grass roots level, raising awareness
of Crimestoppers, in some of the most affected areas.'
'As a direct result of information from Crimestoppers numerous crimes
have been prevented, criminals have been arrested and London has been
made safer,' said Assistant Commissioner John Yates, from the Metropolitan
Police. 'We know that often people do not want to give information directly
to police or that they want to remain anonymous, therefore it is critical
that communities are able to access the service that Crimestoppers provides.
'I can't emphasise enough how important the information that people give
to Crimestoppers is to us. I'd encourage anyone who knows anything about
a crime that has happened or may be about to happen to call Crimestoppers.
The intelligence we receive can be the vital piece of the jigsaw that
enables us to stop someone being hurt or bring justice to some of the
capital's hardest crimes to solve.'
Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe from Merseyside Police, adds: 'Crimestoppers
is incredible! It is a charity that stops crime and helps arrest offenders.
It is such a simple idea. The police service has three ways to detect
crime - catch them at the scene, forensics or someone tells us who did
it. Crimestoppers help the public to tell the police who did it. Their
partnership with the police service is unique - roll on two million!'
