Vital work of Crimestoppers in driving down crime outlined during PFCC visit

The vital role of Crimestoppers in helping Essex people to report crime anonymously was outlined to Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst when he visited the charity’s contact centre yesterday.

Mr Hirst was honoured to visit the national call centre of Crimestoppers, an independent charity giving people the power to speak up and stop crime – 100% anonymously.

The PFCC is one of the partners, alongside Essex Police, county, city and district councils and others, which provides Crimestoppers with £55k of funding each year to carry out its important work in Essex.

Mr Hirst met with Mick Duthie, Director of Operations, and Stuart Rawlins, Essex Advisory Board member and Chair of the Essex and Eastern Region Crimestoppers Committees, who was happy to take the PFCC through the Crimestoppers operation and introduce him to the county team, many of whom are volunteers.

The Commissioner heard how 700,000 calls are taken nationally each year by Crimestoppers, with many helping police to solve important cases. A project that encourages young people to not be afraid to report crime, called Fearless, was also outlined.

Mr Hirst said: “At public meetings and engagements we host and attend, we constantly tell people to report crime. That’s how Essex Police can build up an intelligence picture of crime in the county which can then be used to target resources, helping the service be efficient and effective. We urge people to report crime to Essex Police, but we also understand many can have reservations about reporting to the police, in which case we urge people to speak to Crimestoppers.

“Criminals, like bullies, operate in silence. By reporting criminal activity to Crimestoppers anonymously, anyone can break that silence. We were very impressed with the Crimestoppers team and the service they provide, Stuart Rawlins his team and all the volunteer team do a great job which adds to our team effort to keep communities in Essex safe and secure.”

Roger Hirst also presented Stuart Rawlings with a certificate of recognition for his service to Crimestoppers during the visit.

If you would like to know more about Crimestoppers visit the website:

Independent UK charity taking crime information anonymously | Crimestoppers

If you would like to report crime to Crimestoppers anonymously, call 0800 555111