Crimestoppers UK is an independent crime-fighting charitable organization in the United Kingdom, based in the Morden district of London. Crimestoppers runs the 0800 555 111 phone number, allowing people to call 24/7 completely anonymously to pass on information about crime. People can also pass on information anonymously via a secure online information form on Crimestoppers website. As with other Crimestoppers organisations, callers are not required to give their name or any personal information, and calls cannot be traced.

Crimestoppers UK is a member of Crime Stoppers International, an umbrella organisation of similar organisations.

Contents 1 Rewards 2 Crimestoppers UK History 3 Results 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Rewards

Crimestoppers pays rewards for information supplied that results in an arrest being made. The amount paid ranges from £50 to £1,000, depending on the severity of the crime. They do not pay rewards for the recovery of stolen property. An individual's anonymity is not compromised by claiming a reward - when an individual passes information on to Crimestoppers, they are issued with a code. If an individual wants to check whether they are eligible for a reward, they are requested to call Crimestoppers again at a later date with the code they were originally issued with. Crimestoppers will inform the caller whether they are eligible for a reward. If they are, the caller then chooses a bank branch and a date when they would like to collect the reward. The caller then goes to the bank branch, provides them with the code and will be issues with the cash reward.

[edit] Crimestoppers UK History

In 1985, PC Keith Blakelock was murdered during the riots at the Broadwater Farm Estate in London and the police appealed for information, stating that people knew who had been responsible but were frightened of coming forward.

Michael Ashcroft (now Lord Ashcroft and Chairman of the Trustees of Crimestoppers), a businessman, offered to provide the police with money for a reward to encourage somebody to come forward with information. This led to discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, resulting in Michael Ashcroft founding the establishment of the Crimestoppers operation in the UK in January 1988. He set up the charity and together with some business colleagues who were also concerned about the rise in violent crime, they funded the UK operation.

Originally launched as the 'Community Action Trust', the charity was renamed Crimestoppers in 1995, by then covering the whole of the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Initially, the administrative organisation was based on ITV regions, but the best model proved to be local county-based committees working in partnership with single police forces. The roll-out of this structure continues; there are now 38 volunteer committees across the UK and a further increase will follow, as volunteer numbers grow sufficiently to set up these new, more locally focused groups.

The concept of businesses establishing a partnership with the media and the police to help solve crimes in this way, chimed with a study undertaken by the Metropolitan Police Service who had come across Crimestoppers in America, originating some 10 years earlier in Albuquerque.

Lord Ashcroft has been Chairman of the Trustees of Crimestoppers for the last 20 years and a core supporter and donor to the charity throughout this period.

[edit] Results

As a result of information supplied to Crimestoppers, during March 2009, 19 people are arrested every day, and a person is charged with murder every 4 days.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Crimestoppers UK
• ShadowCS