Need to feel you're doing something vital in your daily routine? Crimestoppers offer the types of challenges and rewards that few other jobs can match, combining personal satisfaction with the knowledge that you are doing something to assist your fellow citizens. The sheer variety of experience - two days are never the same - is one of the main appeals for me. Opportunities to contribute are great, even by attending our annual dinner we are helping the work of the Trust, which is supported almost entirely by charitable donations.
Figures gathered by the Accounts Commission show that the bill for vandalism and fires in Scottish schools - which alone cost some councils £6,000 per school - may have dipped by one third in the past four years but that is no cause for complacency. Money has been spent on CCTV and fencing, with some local authorities making incredible efforts to tackle the problem, which so demotivates pupils and staff.
The drop in vandalism has been achieved in a coordinated, with a Scotland-wide Crimestoppers campaign proving extremely effective, say police who reported 6,128 actionable calls from people using the anonymous Crimestoppers call line - 0800 555 111. The information enabled the police to arrest and charge 562 people for serious criminal offences, including one for murder, the seizure of drugs with a street value of more than £2 million plus £119,000 in recovered property.
'One Call Can Cuff Them' was the message featured in over 2,500 poster sites around the UK, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, during Crimestoppers Week this year, as part of a national advertising campaign, involving posters and radio ads. Another display was 'Scumuppance' featuring drugs.
As we know, crime is rarely entirely hidden from the public eye but not all witnesses or people with information about crooks feel able to step forward and help the police. There are many understandable reasons why they would not wish to be identified - they may live in a particularly troubled area and know of a drug dealer but fear retribution, or may wrestle with their conscience about a friend or family member whom they suspect of murder or rape.
Thankfully, Crimestoppers empowers such people; it gives them a voice.
The role of the Crimestoppers staff and Board is to make the phone ring and that can only be done through high-profile campaigns and publicity which, of course, cost money. The principle of anonymity is the key to the scheme's phenomenal success. Callers can pass on what they know with the absolute assurance that they will not be asked for their name.
If a tip-off results in the arrest and charge of a suspect, the caller may be entitled to a cash reward from Crimestoppers Trust. A system has been developed so that these rewards can be paid anonymously. However, experience shows that, as a national average, only 4.3% of those eligible actually ask for one. The vast majority of callers are satisfied to be able to pass on useful information in a bid to rid themselves of criminals in their midst.
Thanks to all eight Scottish police forces, the British Transport Police, the newly-formed Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency - and you for helping to put criminals where they belong - 2000 was another record-breaker for Crimestoppers Scotland.
Remember - 'One Call Can Cuff Them
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