This week I’d like to talk about the way the Metropolitan Police Service work with the organisation Crimestoppers. Crimestoppers is a charity set up in 1988 by Lord Michael Ashcroft, as a way of encouraging people to pass information about criminal offences and offenders to the police, completely anonymously and sometimes for a reward. The organisation is now run by a huge network of volunteers, who take phone calls 24/7 and monitor the internet site. As well as remaining an incredibly successful way of sharing information, Crimestoppers has also helped to develop exceptional working relationships between the police, the media and third party organisations and charities, all united with the single goal of fighting crime.

You may have seen that we include the Crimestoppers phone number on all our appeals for wanted people. This is to encourage people who are unsure about talking to the police to give any information that they have about people they know are involved in crime or specific incidents that have occurred. Crimestoppers never reveal the identity of their caller to the police; each phone call is completely anonymous, and you do not have to give any of your personal details (although you can if you want to). Sometimes, a reward is offered to encourage people to come forward. The organisation can even arrange for a reward to be paid to someone without needing their name or contact details. Each piece of information given to the Met is meticulously investigated, before we take appropriate action to arrest suspects.

You can now also use the Crimestoppers website at www.crimestoppers-uk.org to provide information to the police online - again, completely anonymously. There is also a website run by Crimestoppers called Fearless (find it at www.fearless.org) where young people aged between 11-16 can access a wide range of information about crime issues that could affect them.

Every day across the country, 23 people on average are arrested and charged based on information that has been passed to Crimestoppers and investigated by the police. And over the years, £229m worth of drugs have been recovered, along with over £122 million worth of stolen property. Last year over 95,000 pieces of information were passed to the police from Crimestoppers, and remember, if you have any information about crime, call 0800 555 111. And as with all aspects of policing, we couldn’t do it without your support and co-operation - so thank you!