Islanders urged to back Crimestoppers

Robin Smith was speaking at the charity’s inaugural members’ lunch for its Golden Handcuffs Club – a fundraising initiative in which sponsors pay a variable annual fee depending on the size of their organisation.

Crimestoppers chairman Peter Shirreffs is encouraging businesses to sign up to the scheme – and those that do will receive a licence to use the Crimestoppers logo, an invitation to various networking events and a signed copy of crime author Peter James’s latest book.

Mr Smith said: ‘The key bit for Crimestoppers is that people are able to provide information with complete anonymity – they don’t have to call the police. That’s a fantastic opportunity for people to be able to make reports and I have lost count of the amount of big incidents, and indeed not so big incidents, where members of the community can contact Crimestoppers and then tell us.

‘The important thing is that Crimestoppers are ferocious about maintaining the confidentiality of a caller. The police service never ask and we never see – all we get is the information, properly sanitised. So I encourage people to support Crimestoppers, which is the reason why I am here today.’

He added: ‘What better thing could be had than the thought that you have contributed where we may save a life.’

Mr James, who is also the charity’s patron, said: ‘What Crimestoppers does so wonderfully – and I’ve been patron in England for 15 years and I’ve seen it work to great effect – is it enables every member of the public to become the eyes and ears of the police. Not in a “sneak on your neighbour” way, but in a “just keep your eyes open” way.’

He added: ‘If you had drug dealers living above you or next door to you, you would be too nervous to phone the police because you might find there is going to be retribution. But with Crimestoppers, every call that has ever been made has been kept anonymous.

‘If there is a reward, the person making that call will get the reward but nobody will ever know it is you – that, to me, is the big value of Crimestoppers.’

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