Crimestoppers: Raising Public Awareness

Crime Stoppers Bermuda, which has seen an 52% increase in calls received, today [Dec 1] announces the launch of its new campaign that aims to increase public awareness of how the organisation receives and processes information from callers.

John Drew, Chairman of Crime Stoppers Bermuda, outlines the details: “While we have seen an increase of over 52% in calls taken so far this year, compared to the whole of last year, research has shown that many people are unaware of exactly how Crime Stoppers works. Our aim is to reach out to the entire Island and explain the process, thereby reassuring the general public that anyone can safely and anonymously submit information to Crime Stoppers.”

Violent crime in Bermuda has increased considerably over the past two years, with the confirmed number of firearms incidents reaching 63 in 2010 alone, along with 27 injuries and 7 deaths. Up until now, Crime Stoppers has relied on publicising the organisation through posters, radio tips and the occasional newspaper advertisement, but after conducting some research, they decided that a more educational approach would be needed.

With funding from the Concerned Business Community group, they are taking a more strategic approach to reassure potential callers that they are guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality.

Crimestoppers said “Our new campaign will kick off with the arrival of the Crime Stoppers team from Miami-Dade, who will be in Bermuda on 2nd and 3rd December for an orientation visit and to attend our AGM. These are the people who receive and process all calls coming in from Bermuda, Miami and the greater area of Florida, and other Caribbean islands such as Bahamas, Cayman and Barbados, so we have arranged for them to appear on television and radio to talk about their role and how they process the information they receive,” says John Drew.

Crime Stoppers Bermuda is affiliated with Crime Stoppers International, who has programmes operating in communities around the world. “It’s a fact that, throughout the world where Crime Stoppers programmes are in existence, a caller has never been identified as an individual who passed information to Crime Stoppers. The entire purpose of Crime Stoppers is that individuals can provide information completely anonymously either by telephone or through web-tips,” clarifies John Drew.

The brochure they will be distributing is below, and anyone is more than welcome to download it:

#CrimeInBermuda

Category: All, Crime, News