Tasmanians are giving police leads and embracing online service

Crime Stoppers Tasmania has experienced a huge increase in online crime reporting thanks to more Tasmanians using the service.

TASMANIANS are embracing technology to dob in drug dealers, thieves and wanted criminals with reports to Crime Stoppers hitting a record high.

The number of reports to Crime Stoppers – which gives people a safe way to provide information without dealing directly with police – more than doubled in the five years to 2019.

Crime Stoppers Tasmania has also experienced a huge increase in online crime reporting, with more than two thirds of reports submitted through the Crime Stoppers website.

“The statistics tell us that our range of campaigns on crime is relevant to the community, and there is a growing awareness of Crime Stoppers as a confidential and anonymous reporting system for crime,” Crime Stoppers Tasmania chair David Daniels said.

“Most tips relate to drugs, but other serious criminal offences such as wanted persons, fire arms, murder, theft, sex offences, and even road offences are also reported.”

Crime Stoppers has been operating in Tasmania for 26 years and the information it receives has helped in some major police investigations including a murder in northern Tasmania.

The information led investigators to change their search location and to find the murdered person in bushland.

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It also helped police find and recover stolen goods worth more than $100,000 and to change the direction of an investigation which had been based on a false report to police.

Mr Daniels said Crime Stoppers had been working to increase public awareness that it is a 100-per-cent private community service and an alternative option to report information on crime and criminals without revealing your identity.

“There is also an increasing understanding that the community can itself play an effective role in keeping Tasmania safe. Increasingly, criminals don’t have friends in Tasmania,” Mr Daniels said.

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