Crimestoppers has been operating in New Zealand for 28 months and calls continue to come in from New Zealanders concerned about crime and safety in their community.
The service is anonymous and the information they share helps police build a case to support action.
During the past 28 months, more than 7000 calls contained information helpful to police investigations.
The call centre has been very busy receiving over 21,000 calls since we started operating the service in New Zealand. To have one-third of these calls assist police is phenomenal and I thank callers for high quality information.
In December 2011 alone, the Crimestoppers Call Centre handled 1097 calls. This was a new monthly record and shows that Kiwis are truly embracing our service.
January was another stellar month. We received 1085 calls and recorded the highest number of calls that contained actionable information at 352 calls.
We are also working with the Auckland Council, which has been running a campaign to increase awareness of our service. It has had positive impact.
Most of our callers are concerned with drugs in their neighbourhood, with this offence making up over 60% of the calls received.
Dishonesty offences are next, followed by information on wanted persons, traffic offences and illegal possession of weapons.
Because Crimestoppers is anonymous, people are more comfortable providing information on crime in their community. This increases the chances of offenders being detected and caught.
The community can really have an impact on getting crime down.
They are a critical part of the Crimestoppers process.
Crimestoppers is an independent organisation dedicated to providing an anonymous means for people to give information on crime.
This information is provided through 0800-555111 or over the encrypted online message form at www.crimestoppers–nz.org
Lou Gardiner is chief executive of Crimestoppers New Zealand. He can be contacted on 04-9203196 or 0277-824563.
Email: lou.gardiner@crimestoppers-nz.org
