The 0800 crime reporting line Crimestoppers reports a significant rise in the number of pieces of information passed onto police over the past two years.
The charity, which is in its 30th year, passed on 152,000 reports to law enforcement agencies in the year 2017/2018, which is six per cent up on the previous year, and 33pc up on 2015/2016. Almost half of those that contact the charity, whether by phone or online, are under the age of 35. One in five people who contact are from black or minority groups. This is key Crimestoppers says for engaging some of those communities that perhaps don’t feel comfortable speaking to the police.
The charity has seen a rise in information relating to specific crime types too, with a significant increase in reports on modern slavery (up 75pc), domestic abuse (up 37.5pc) and weapon possession (35pc), while drugs remains the biggest crime group (60pc of overall total).
Crimestoppers has run campaigns on all four crimes in the past year, targeting specific foreign languages so the wider public better understand them and why it is important to give information. The drugs figures include ‘County Lines’, where gangs and organised crime exploit children and vulnerable people to sell drugs. The charity points to anecdotal evidence that more people are mentioning that crime by name when they call.
Mark Hallas, Crimestoppers Chief Executive, said: “We as a charity are obviously encouraged by the rise in information that we are receiving, which is a reflection of the trust that the public has in us. The rise in figures shows that the need for Crimestoppers charity continues to grow. If we weren’t here, then where would the callers go? It would be wrong to say automatically that they would go to the police, as at least 20 per cent won’t speak directly to the police, for a host of reasons, which is why Crimestoppers is uniquely placed to help keep our communities safe.
“Sometimes people will contact us because they are struggling to get through on 101, but we feel that it is our guarantee of 100% anonymity, which has never been broken, that encourages those that come to us. Better education of the public has helped boost information coming through. That’s reflected in the information we’re receiving at our charity’s Contact Centre, and the rise in numbers about particular crime types.”
If you have any information on a crime, you can contact Crimestoppers charity 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through the non-traceable anonymous online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
