Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers was launched yesterday.
You can use it to report crime through their website or by calling 0800 555 111. They don’t record the call, want your name or details – just information on the crime and who is responsible.
The organisation is an independent charity, based on the UK one set up by Lord Ashcroft, who has also donated to the NZ one.
In the last year, the UK crime stoppers achieved:
- 91,649 arrests and charges from 1,060,047 actionable calls
- 106 million pounds of goods recovered
- 167 million pounds fo drugs seized
- One person every four days charged with murder as a result of information provided
- Contributes to solving of one in five murders in London
Now the UK has 15 times our population, but that still suggests it should prove a useful contributor to the fight against crime.
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Tags: Crimestoppers, law & order, Michael Ashcroft
October 13th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I think it sounds a splendid idea!
I would be disinclined to ever speak with or offer assistance to a member of the Constabulary as one would not want to end up like Arthur Thomas – you do the right thing one day and find yourself the prime suspect the next; and most members of the Constabulary have always struck me as being a bit dull…(not really the sorts of chaps you could invite to dinner, if you know what I mean?)
However being able to ring a telephone number and provide details of a crime anonymously seems an excellent way to do the right thing without any problems arising.
http://www.nightcitytrader.blogspot.com
October 13th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Good on them.
What an ugly looking website though…
October 13th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I was just about to say almost exactly the same thing, RRM…. I mean, well done and all, but it looks like the site was designed for IE5.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
A country of narks.
Reminds me of Communism’s dark face.
And Cambodia.
A nark system, set up by John Key’s rich Tory friend.
Smells funny.
[DPF: Yeah reporting rapists, killer and burglars. How dare people nark on them]
October 13th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Village idiot – you obviously have not been a true victim of cime
October 13th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Ok, can someone dob in village idiot for stealing multiple 10 second periods of my life trying to make head or tail of his/her dribble.
TIA
CL
October 13th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
We should all be encouraged to report crimes, criminals, people we think are criminals, people we think might be criminals, behaviour we think is criminal, behaviour that might lead to crime, families that are obviously breeding criminals, children who we know will become criminal, there’s no end to the usefulness of a network set up to collect information about crime!
Stage One complete.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
What I want to know is this. As crime costs all of us in New Zealand in increased insurance, hospital care, repairs for vandalism and the like, and it degrades the standard of living for all New Zealanders, why is it that the act of reporting a criminal to the police is known as ‘narking’ and has so many negative collusions? I would have thought it was a part of being a responsible member of society.
Some years ago I witnessed a carload of youths knock down a large light pole at an intersection on Aucklands North Shore. Boy racers, having a race, and being stupid. They pushed the vehicle in to a shopping car park, as it was undriveable. They then attempted to hide the vehicle before the police came round. I noted the licence plate, and popped in to the butchers, and wrote the licence plate number on my hand. Two of the young men followed me in to the shop and demanded I erase it. The tried standover tactics, which were laughable (I am 6 foot 3 and 98 kg!). And as I came out of the shop, the police turned up. I walked straight over to them, with the two young men following me, and passed on all the information to the police, along with my contact details, the details of the two cars involved, where the missing car had been hidden, and introduced them to the two men who had followed me in to the shop!
And I didn’t have a problem. They had destroyed public property, endangered other members of the public, and tried to hide it. They got what was coming to them, and good job too! Thugs, halfwits and idiots make life harder for the rest of us, and we NEED to dob these low life’s and no-hopers in. It’s not about a secret police (villiage idiot, hang your head!), it’s about having a safe and secure place for people like me to raise our children. Take a stand!
October 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
“Reminds me of Communism’s dark face.’
well no one would know is as well as you – Tell about the bright face Greenfly ..(aka…Mike)
October 13th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I take Village Idiot’s point, in that there has to be a certain amount of trust that the network is going to be used for benevolent purposes (crime tip offs).
Perhaps a Libertarianz or some other freedom-loving individual could demonstrate that this system CANNOT and WILL NOT be used for malign purposes, e.g. the network of reporting and informing by which the Communists kept control in China during the Cultural Revolution and afterwards?
Lastly, I point out that in terms of suspected child abuse, we already have an amateur organization that collects anonymous tip-offs from the general public who want to accuse each other of serious crimes, and passes them on apparently unthinkingly to the police for investigation: CYFS!
0508 FAMILY (0508 326 459)
http://www.cyf.govt.nz/265.htm
October 13th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
This is just another of life’s balances. There are many examples of misuse – many of the residents of Guantanomo were handed in for rewards or to deal to someone. Similar to the early days of British justice when there were no police – being accused by a victim or competitor or adversary would mean something like having to put your hand or arm in boiling water and be judged by the God/pus test. At least now most people get a fair-ish trial (excluding Gitmo).
But the public have to be part of policing otherwise it simply wouldn’t work. The more honest and reasonable people taking part the smaller the proportion of abuse.
October 13th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
RRM, You’d report a suspected burglar to CYFS?
October 13th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
^^^ FAIL
[Quoting RRM]: Lastly, I point out that in terms of suspected child abuse… [/quote]
October 13th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Anonymous dobbing, ah! That’s what smells so bad!
I’m surprised you freedom-loving personal-choice supporters so easily hand over your freedoms!
John Key announces that he has granted the police greater powers (to combat….let’s see, what can we cite this time..I know! P!), the details of which won’t be made public, and you smile benignly and call for the next erosion of your rights? It arrives within the week, flown in from the U.K. where the public live under surveillence day in, day out, and voila! an anonymous dobbing scheme! Brilliant!
Winston – nothing good in a Communist system? You sure?
October 13th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Winston – great gymnastics and parades to die for.
October 13th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
A fantastic tool. Perhaps the biggest benefits I can see is that people are more likely to report crime if its anonymous. It is not, as Greenfly so suggests about narks, as it is about fear of retribution. Also, having civilians sift through the chaff, forwarding just the good stuff to police helps the police do what matters; Catch Criminals and Protect the innocent.
October 13th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Wow VI, you really dont like a voluntary, private effort to reduce crime?
Here’s a hint, don’t participate.
October 13th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
KiwiGreg – don’t get me wrong, I’m a great fan of Neighbourhood Watch.
Here’s a question: Do you think the incidence of crime will be reduced as a result if this initiative?
Will it act as a deterrent? Or will we have to buy more shipping containers?
[DPF: If a rapist is in prison, he is not able to carrying on raping, until he is released so yes if more criminals are caught, I expect over time the incidence of crime to fall. Most crime is done by the same criminals time and time again]
October 13th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
RRM – my bad
October 13th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
DPF – if a rapist is in prison, he is not able to carry on raping… quite (if unintentionally) funny, that statement.
I think your view of crime is simplistic and wrong. Keep catching them til they’re all inside? Hmmmm…..
We have already, an unholy percentage of our men and women ‘inside’. The rate of crime doesn’t seem to be falling away noticably, does it. Something’s wrong with the theory… wonder what that is?
You expect, over time, the rate of crime to fall… mind if I quote you on that David?
Still doesn’t address the question of greater numbers of New Zealanders having to be accomodated in prison, does it. It’s already a huge strain on the taxpayer. This initiative doesn’t look as though it will alleviate that at all, in fact, it will do the opposite.
October 13th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Obviously we do not have enough criminals in jail then Idiot.
It’s a bit like blaming the referee for blowing too many penalties rather than asking the players to stay onside.
October 13th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Nope. I’m asking the ref to look at how the game is played, so that the onside rule isn’t broken so often. Giving him a louder whistle or a bigger sin bin is shortsighted and won’t improve the game.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Gueez Wayne … don’t you just luv the sound of the ‘Knock. Knock’ bird as articulated by the village idiot.
At least ‘he’ got the name right.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Seems to me some folk are trying to do something. They arent asking me to pay for it; dont plan to break any laws; might do some good. Yet you seem to think it’s a bad thing. /boggle.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Okay DPF, so where are the figures for how many false reports these services receive? And how many of those translate into the police taking action against an otherwise innocent person?
I don’t know the stats but I have seen plenty of it anecdotally, as every state in Australia has a “Crimestoppers”. It’s particularly beloved of those involved in already-messy Family Court actions… like the bloke who proudly related how he’d “called the cops” on his ex-partner, claiming she had methamphetamines in the house.
Armed police kicked her door in while she was at home with her children, in front of whom she wet herself in fear. Nothing was found, of course.
Whatever happened to the right’s support for freedom from a totalitarian state? Or is that only when the state wants to stop us nice middle class folk from putting up an election poster?
October 13th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Hey, I just saw my neighbour smack their child and kick the dog.
I guess my reporting of said crimes will result in a visit from both CYFs and the SPCA, with the police likely in tow.
Yeah, guilt free dobbing in – I think I’ll grab a beer and watch the entertainment unfold – who needs TV?
October 13th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
And blame the school when the kid becomes disruptive, blame police when the kid becomes a crim and when the dog bites someone blame the government because microchips didn’t work.
October 14th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I think this is a very good idea. Sure, you could get people making hoax or malicious phone calls but police probably get those anyway and can sort them out fairly quickly. I think the benefits of this system will outweigh the drawbacks.
October 14th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I hope Crime Stoppers NZ dies a horrible undignified death.
March 20th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Oh it will die a horrible and undignified death…
Especially when the anonymity they so bodly speak of is actually a sive.