Law enforcement officials are welcoming the re-introduction of the Crime Stoppers hotline in Antigua and Barbuda.
Crime Stoppers Antigua Barbuda, a registered non-profit corporation helping law enforcement to locate criminals and help solve crimes, was relaunched last week Friday.
Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Frankie Thomas said the programme and the tips that have been provided through the anonymous 24-hour hotline number have assisted the police in solving some criminal activities that would normally pose a challenge.
“It is a very useful piece of tool, not only in Antigua and Barbuda but throughout the world. It has aided us with the more improved crime fighting efforts that we now have and it has nothing to do with the police in the sense that it is not police approved entity,” Thomas said.
“It is an anonymous platform that you can use to provide information without anyone knowing your background and we are so happy to see the re-introduction of the programme. People should feel free to call and give information without feeling threatened” he added.
Director of the Board for Crime Stoppers, Neil Forrester said they are hoping to form partnerships with the business community in terms of sponsorships and marketing. There is also a need for volunteers from within the community.
“We need people to get into the communities to spread the word, all age groups, all across Antigua. It’s run by a small group of which I am the director and we can’t do this ourselves. We need people to come onboard to be ambassadors and take Crime Stoppers and take the word of Crime Stoppers back into the community,” Forrester said.
According to Forrester, the people wishing to share information with Crime Stoppers could do so by contacting the hotline number which is 800-8477 (TIPS), the information could also be sent anonymously via an online anonymous forum.
