In June 2010 we celebrated one of our most significant milestones as a charity, the 100,000 arrest and charge made as a result of information passed to us. The arrest was of a man for burglary in Durham.

As the Crimestoppers service is anonymous, we can not disclose information about our successes in detail. Our 100,000 arrest was symbolic of all of the criminals that would never have been brought to justice without Crimestoppers and the information passed to us by people across the UK.

These landmark figures are testimony to the way the public has embraced Crimestoppers, and they are the result of an amazing amount of hard work from everyone associated with the charity across our 23 year history.

We're always striving to improve aspects of our work to ensure they meet best practice guidelines. In August 2010, 12 call handlers at our 24/7 contact bureau embarked on an NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service and three others undertook an NVQ Level 2 in Team Leadership.

Customer Service NVQs are aimed at staff working in customer services across all occupations and sectors of employment. The Level 2 in Customer Service is intended for individuals whose role involves carrying out a broad range of customer-focused activities with a certain level of responsibility.

The Team Leading programme is designed for practising team leaders or supervisors to help them develop the skills and competences they need to be effective in their roles.

After eight months of hard work, all 15 obtained their NVQ qualifications. This means that our staff are even more qualified to answer calls and process information professionally, without judgment and with expertise.

Cheap knock-offs are appealing to many people, perceived as a bargain and not harming anyone. But the reality is that the sale of counterfeit goods fuels serious organised crime such as human trafficking and drugs smuggling. These crimes can bring associated dangers to where we live and cause direct harm to those who consume fake goods.

In a bid to fight this serious organised criminality, we worked closely with the Home Office, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and corporate partners (Federation Against Copyright Theft, Bank of England, Film Distributors Association, British American Tobacco and Pentland) on an anti-counterfeiting campaign. This is aimed at deterring people from buying fakes and encouraging them to pass on information anonymously about those dealing in them.

Pre-Christmas launch

The campaign was launched in November 2010, in the run up to Christmas, as there was likely to be greater temptation for people to buy fake goods as gifts.

Five campaign strands

The campaign was divided into strands covering fake DVDs, fake money, fake tobacco, fake fashion and the harm fake products can cause. A dedicated website, Fakes Fund Crime, featured videos on counterfeit goods and explained the damage they cause. Posters and beer mats were distributed to over 300 pubs and clubs in the UK.

The results

The campaign was a huge success – we received 133% more useful information on counterfeiting than during the previous month.

Our work to help tackle crime that affects diverse communities continued to grow this year.

Business and community leaders attended our third Asian and Muslim forum to hear an update on our strategy and the work we've done to date. Vibrant debate included discussions around issues of real concern to communities, along with an update on the campaigns too date; these include hate crime, illegal money bureaux and drugs.

Our campaigns took place in several regions across the UK and utilised a variety of media including posters, radio adverts, flyers, billboard and bus shelter adverts. These materials were promoted at libraries, mosques and community events reaping great results:

• Birmingham’s burglary campaign saw a 37% increase in information, which resulted in six arrests.
• In Oldham, Lancashire, there was a 20% increase in calls during October and November when our Thank You and Criminal Money campaigns were launched.

Kamraan Daniels, a member of Birmingham's Islamic community, discussed the charity in our 'Crimestoppers works with Asian and Muslim communities' video. He said: “If you have a problem definitely call. Because it’s an anonymous service it’s not going to have any backlash on yourself and it’s better to call them rather than sit there and let the problem escalate out of control.”

Alcohol-fuelled criminal damage can be serious. As well as personal and public property being damaged, residents can be left feeling unsafe on their own streets.

In Lincolnshire we launched 'Gauge Your Behaviour', a campaign to raise awareness that damaging property is a criminal offence. The campaign resulted in a 50% reduction in criminal damage incidents compared with the same four week period the previous year.

Crimestoppers volunteers provided information to young people at organised events to engage people in the campaign. A popular initiative was a beer goggle challenge, where people wore glasses which gave them the appearance of being drunk. They then had to carry a tray of drinks. This demonstrated to participants the extent to which their judgment can be affected by drinking.

We worked in partnership with Lincolnshire Police, Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service and the City of Lincoln Anti-Social Behaviour Team on the campaign.

In August 2010 we launched Weed Them Out, a campaign in Scotland to raise awareness of the tell-tale signs of cannabis cultivation.

Working with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), the campaign urged those with suspicions about cannabis cultivation to pass on information to Crimestoppers anonymously.

The campaign’s call to action certainly worked. As a direct result of Weed Them Out:

• 141 pieces of useful information on cannabis cultivation in Scotland were received. These resulted in 12 arrests.
• Cannabis with a street value of £280,000 was seized.

So remember, if a building is always dark, has a lingering smell, receives late night deliveries or generates an annoying hum – these could be signs of cannabis cultivation.

The fifth birthday of Most Wanted was celebrated with a bang – the 1,000th arrest of an individual featured on the site occurred in September 2010.

Since Most Wanted's launch in November 2005, 1,224 people had been arrested and charged from the 5,821 appeals posted on the site by law enforcement. That’s an impressive 21%.

Unique service

Most Wanted is unique as it works on a local, national and international level. It draws together wanted individuals from all over the UK and displays them in one place. The nature of the internet means there is nowhere left for criminals to hide – the success of our Most Wanted proves this.

Thanks to your help identifying those who are on the run, more criminals are being brought to justice. This makes our streets safer for all of us.

Our campaigning is not reserved for information on crime types: we also campaign for information on international fugitives.

This year we launched our sixth batch of appeals under our most high profile Most Wanted campaign, Operation Captura.

The successful multi-agency campaign identifies individuals on the run in Spain who are wanted by UK law enforcement agencies for serious crimes committed in the UK.

Ten new appeals, which include some of the UK's most dangerous individuals, were revealed on 21 February 2011 in Alicante, an area with a large British ex-patriate community and a potential hideout for fugitives on the run from British law enforcement. In just over a month of launching the sixth batch of 10 most wanted, four were arrested.

Since the campaign launched in October 2006, there have been 65 appeals, 47 of whom have been arrested. Many of these are now serving lengthy prison sentences for their crimes, which range from drug trafficking to sex crimes to murder.

This year we worked in Thames Valley and Surrey to publicise local Most Wanted appeals.

Following a launch at the Thames Valley Police Open Day in September 2010, a total of 103 Thames Valley appeals were posted to Most Wanted with outstanding results. Within just a week of launching two featured individuals had been caught. A 19-year-old man from Oxford was charged with sexual assault and with possession of an offensive weapon. Another man who was wanted on four fraud charges was caught just days later.

Of the Surrey Most Wanted appeals, five wanted individuals were promptly arrested from the initial 15 posted by Surrey Police.These include a man from Esher who was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of a bladed article. 

Local media coverage drove results

Both campaigns received extensive local media coverage, with Surrey’s Most Wanted and Thames Valley’s Most Wanted generating 21 and 11 articles respectively during their launch periods. These news stories captured the community's imagination, driving unprecedented amounts of traffic to the local pages of our website

In April 2010 we launched Fearless at the Ministry of Sound night club in London. The launch featured performances by young people, the grime artist Doctor and a speech by Barry and Margaret Mizen, who lost their son Jimmy, to violent crime in May 2008.

Since its launch Fearless has been promoted through schools and youth groups across London and the UK.

Our special workshops are led by individuals who have suffered at the hand of gang, gun and knife crime – their personal experiences show that something can be done against these crimes. Discussions that relate to young people on the same level raise awareness, show alternatives and give advice on these sensitive but key concerns. This year we worked with over 5,000 young people in London alone.

Break the barrier of silence against crime

While young people are often portrayed as the perpetrators of crime in the media, we know that they are in fact more often victims who are much less likely to report it. Creating a culture and environment where young people are too scared to ‘snitch’ can be detrimental as it is carried into adulthood. Through the power of active citizenship, our team encourages, reassures and inspires young people to break the barrier of silence and be Fearless against crime.

In June 2010 we ran a pilot launch event for Fearless in Northern Ireland.

The event was held at Belfast’s re-opened Ulster Museum and was attended by over 90 young people. It featured:

• An interactive presentation about Fearless.org
• A question and answer session with Paddy Barnes, an Olympic medal winner and newly-crowned European champion boxer, on the importance of having the courage to conquer fears and achieve success.

Celebrity support

Local celebrities got behind the campaign in Northern Ireland by confessing their innermost fears. Sports anchorman Graham Little can’t stand mice while model Katie Larmour has no problem scuba diving, apart from her fear of boats.

The pilot was deemed a success and a full Fearless tour to launch the brand in Northern Ireland schools is planned for 2011/12.

The William Wates Memorial Trust has continued to support our Fearless workshops around the country.

The Trust’s support is vital to Fearless’ success – it provides funding for one of our youth workers to run Fearless sessions across the UK. These sessions in schools and youth groups ensure that young people who may be at risk are encouraged to let us know about individuals carrying guns/knives in their school or local area.

Trustees have attended our workshops to see first-hand how 11 to 16-year-olds are made aware of how passing on information anonymously can make streets safer.

We would like to thank the William Wates Memorial Trust and our other supporters who have made the Fearless scheme possible.

Heather Harper, who volunteers for our Thames Valley committee, was awarded the accolade of Crimestoppers Volunteer of the Year 2010.

Heather has been a stalwart and energetic volunteer for Thames Valley Crimestoppers for over ten years. She has been involved in countless campaigns and was instrumental in securing broadcasting slots on the local Star FM radio station and securing a significant partnership with the Buckinghamshire Punjabi Society.

Heather was excited to receive her award, declaring that she would give it pride of place in her home.

The other final nominees were:

• Runner up – Richard Daubeney, Chair of our Dorset committee.
• Joint third – Terry Flynn, Chair of our Wales committee and Brian Manning, volunteer and treasurer of our Northamptonshire committee.

This year our Cleveland committee made history by launching the charity’s first volunteer Youth Committee since our inception 23 years ago.

The Youth Committee, comprising of students from Teesside University, has already made an impact. They ran a successful beer-mat campaign in association with the Cleveland Police Authority and Teesside University and participated in a regional Fearless launch. One of the key aspects of the launch included publicising fearless.org by interacting with shoppers in The Mall shopping centre in Middlesbrough, handing out branded leaflets and wallets.

Additionally, the committee worked hard to distribute thousands of leaflets to members of the community in order to promote the anonymous service we provide.

The committee is a fantastic example of the power of young people. It demonstrates what can be achieved by working together in a positive and passionate way to fight crime.

We are very grateful to our 27 runners who completed the Virgin London Marathon 2010 for us. Their efforts raised over £24,000 for the charity.

Among our runners was police officer Jill Christie, from Brentford, west London. Dressed as Superwoman, Jill was awarded the accolade of Fastest Marathon Dressed As A Superhero, achieving the outstanding time of 3 hours 8 minutes and 55 seconds.

Of her achievement Jill said: “I first attempted the record in 2009 but injury meant I narrowly missed out on breaking it, so it’s an incredible feeling to finally hold the world record a year later. It’s taken many months and hours of rigorous training but it’s completely worth it, particularly as the money raised goes to the charity Crimestoppers. As a policewoman I know how valuable the anonymous information the public gives Crimestoppers is in solving crimes.”

A family member of a murdered Bristol teenager bravely set up a sponsored sky dive over Salisbury Plain to raise money for us and to raise awareness of the dangers of knife crime amongst young people.

Anita Croker, whose nephew Shevon Wilson was aged just 17 when he was fatally stabbed in September 2009, took part in the 13,000ft skydive with nine other members of his family at the Netheravon Airfield Camp on 30 May 2010. The event raised over £1,000 for Fearless.

Supporting Fearless

Anita said: “I wanted to organise an event in memory of Shevon, who died at the age of 17 years as a result of a violent knife attack. I approached Crimestoppers as they are a registered charity who work with young people to deter them from becoming involved in knife crime. I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to donate the proceeds from our skydive to Fearless and help the fight towards preventing another young, innocent person losing their life.”

It’s thanks to generous donations such as these that we’re able to continue our essential work.

Our volunteers are always looking for innovative ways to raise funds for Crimestoppers. In November 2010 our volunteers in Sussex pulled out all stops, holding a World War II themed murder mystery night.

The event was a huge success, raising almost £7,000 which will allow our Sussex committee to continue to campaign for information on crime in the area.

War-time costumes

Over 100 guests attended the evening, many of whom were in war-time costumes. It centred around a 'cold case' of Superintendent Roy Grace, the top detective from the novels of Peter James, one of Sussex Crimestoppers’ co-patrons.

The event was such a success that another murder mystery night is planned for 2011/12, this time featuring a different theme.

This year we were selected to host the gala dinner at the annual British Antique Dealers Association (BADA) Fair in March 2011.

The evening took a different tone to many of our other events. Our superhero characters were nowhere in sight, and instead were replaced by ball gowns and tuxedos.

£20,000 secured

Andy McNab, SAS hero and best-selling author, gave a fascinating after-dinner speech. The evening’s auction, with coveted lots including a money-can’t-buy tour of the New Scotland Yard crime museum and a wine tasting session, helped to secure the £20,000 we made on the night.

The Integrity Line continued to go from strength to strength this year.

We expanded the service available to our commercial organisation, public sector and police force clients to enable them to securely ask questions about information submitted through the Integrity Line website.

How it works

When users complete an online form they are asked if they agree to a two-way exchange. 

The strength of the two-way system is that it is secure and doesn’t compromise a user’s anonymity. This expansion of the Integrity Line service ensures that our clients are receiving the full benefit from our expertise in handling and processing sensitive information.

Vital income

This year the Integrity Line raised £189,653. This money contributes to our core costs and helps us pay for Regional Managers. We are working towards expanding the Integrity Line service so the charity can have a Regional Manager dedicated to local operations, fundraising and promotion in each of the government regions across the UK.

This year UK Anti-Doping became one of our newest Integrity Line clients, launching their Report Doping in Sport line through the service.

The Report Doping in Sport line is a new service for athletes, support personnel or concerned family and friends to pass on information about the use, supply or trafficking of doping substances.

Pass on information verbally or online

Callers speak to dedicated Integrity Line call handlers trained in anti-doping. Information can also be given via a bespoke online form.

Our perseverance in the fight against crime has stepped up with the launch of our first-ever product – Crimestoppers Property Protector.

For 23 years taking information about crime anonymously has been our core business – and it continues to be – but we are now extending our remit to help householders protect their property from theft or burglary.

A property-marking solution

Crimestoppers Property Protector is a clear liquid solution. Each bottle contains a combination of microparticles that provide a code number unique to that bottle. By dabbing a small amount of on to valuable items you give them their own coded fingerprint – registered exclusively to the rightful owner via the Immobilise property registration database.

Crimestoppers Property Protector is produced by Stealth Mark under license for the charity. A minimum of £1.50 from each bottle sold is donated to Crimestoppers to enable us to continue our charitable work.

 

William Hill is one of our long-standing corporate partners. We worked with them to launch an anti-robbery campaign.

The campaign, launched in August 2010, targeted specific high-risk areas where betting offices were considered vulnerable to robbery.

Marketing materials in their thousands were distributed at grass roots level across five key regions:

• Newcastle
• Strathclyde
• Greater Manchester
• Bristol
• Birmingham

The campaign appealed for information on robbery in William Hill premises. It also aimed to increase awareness of the effect that robberies have on victims.

Of our partnership Robert King, of William Hill, said: "Working with Crimestoppers has proved invaluable to William Hill as our number one priority is to make our shops a safe environment for staff and customers. Reducing crime with the arrest of offenders is one way of doing this and Crimestoppers plays a really important part in making this happen. By working together we can ensure that people who have information about criminal activity can pass this on anonymously, whether it is crime happening in a bookmakers or anywhere else in the community. Our 'Don’t be blinkered' campaign has helped us realise this by focusing our efforts and resources to best effect.”

Energy UK, a new corporate partner, worked with us to launch a campaign appealing for information on those selling illegal energy meter top-ups. 

The campaign was timed to follow the release of statistics revealing that electricity customers have paid over £7 million to criminal gangs targeting prepayment meter users.

Reward facilitated

As part of the Top Up Safe campaign we facilitated the offer of a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those behind this nationwide fraud. The Crimestoppers call-to-action was also used on the campaign materials.