For 29 years it’s been the program that’s encouraged the average person who has knowledge or suspicion about a crime to make good on their contract with society and report what they know.
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Crime Stoppers Victoria began in 1987, so next year it celebrates its 30th anniversary.
It started as an initiative with the Victorian Police Force to engage the community in helping to prevent and solve crime,,
Crime Stoppers also raises awareness of issues that affect the wider community.
For the past seven years, says Crime Stoppers chief executive officer, Sam Hunter, the focus has shifted away from solving crime and catching criminal to the art of crime prevention.
“We work really closely with the police; we have a fantastic relationship with the Western Region,” Ms Hunter said during a recent visit to Ballarat.
“The Assistant Commissioner Tess Walsh is a fantastic supporter of crime prevention initiatives, so we like to trial our programs out here in the west.
“And Superintendent Andrew Allen is a big supporter of the program as well.
“Having Des Hudson as the mayor makes Ballarat a very attractive place for us to come and trial campaigns,” Ms Hunter said.
Ms Hunter was in Ballarat recently to help launch the latest community policing campaign, “Dob in a Dealer”, which will cover 17 locations across Victoria.
Ms Hunter said in recent years the organisation had moved its focus from being state-only to having a more closely-engaged regional presence.
She says Crime Stoppers is looking at doing more regional work in the coming months, including dealing with the issues of livestock theft and the safe storage of guns on farms.
“There’s a growing trend of gun theft from hobby farms and farms generally,” she said.
“In July we’ll launch a regional and rural campaign, moving it around in consultation with the police and the issues they see as relevant.”
With the rise of social media and its swift form of communication, Crime Stoppers has become the new Neighbourhood Watch.
Around 90,000 Victorians contact Crime Stoppers each year.
CrimeStoppers is an entirely not-for-profit organisation, funded by grants.
“Our job is to support the community in reporting crime,” Ms Hunter said.
“We work with the police on their ‘Eyewatch’ pages, which provide local content, but social media has been the game-changer.”
Anyone with information about a crime can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
