New Crimestoppers tip line guarantees anonymity

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Kiwis can now dob in criminals anonymously without talking to police with the launch today of a new privately run Crimestoppers phoneline.

Crimestoppers NZ is based on highly successful UK initiative credited with solving one in five murders in London and having passed on tips leading to 90,000 arrests and charges in its 20 years operation.

It is run as a charity, funded through sponsorship and donations, with no state funding and staffed by volunteers.

The line launched at 4pm today, with calls initially being routed through a freephone number to the existing UK call centre.

The key says charity chief executive and former Chief of the NZ Army, Lou Gardiner, is that anyone calling with tips on crimes remains anonymous. The phoneline hands over crime tips, but never tells who dobbed the criminals in.

The service is independent of government, Police and other law enforcement agencies.

It has been welcomed by NZ police as another key source of information.

"Information flow is the lifeblood of policing and experience in the UK has shown Crimestoppers is very successful in helping police to identify both crimes and criminals," Police Commissioner Howard Broad says.

"The Crimestoppers' guarantee of anonymity provides a way for people to feel safe about passing on what they know, so we're likely to receive information of a type we haven't had before and from people who would not normally come forward," he says.

He says the service won't compete with the police.

In situations where people know something about a crime and are willing to be identified, they should contact police in the usual way, he says.

Police Minister Judith Collins says she endorses it also because some people involved in crime don't want their names known by police either because they are involved in crime themselves or simply scared of ending up giving evidence in court.

She says crime needs to be solved, police have always used anonymous tipoffs and the phone line was a helpful way to get leads.

Crimestoppers in the UK was the brainchild of British peer Lord Michael Ashcroft, the man who put up a $200,000 reward which led to the return of 96 war medals stolen from Waiouru Army Museum in 2007.

He was at the launch today and said Crimestoppers people who were close to a criminal or for various reasons do not want to talk with the police can pass information to the police in complete safety.

The Crimestoppers phone line is: 0800 555 111

- © Fairfax NZ News