Crimestoppers Scotland Impact Campaign: Five people arrested and charged with murder

Scotland’s trust in Crimestoppers sees anonymous information play vital role in catching murderers, fugitives & drug dealers

Over the past year (1^st April 2021-31^st March 2022,) independent charity Crimestoppers Scotland and their youth programme Fearless received over 16,000 contacts from the Scottish public.

As a result of anonymous information from communities across Scotland, over 350 (357) people were arrested and charged, including five with murder. Contacts about drug supply, manufacture and dealing continue to rise and the charity passed on information to the police which helped recover a ‘street value’ of drugs worth over half a million.

Fearless, the youth programme of Crimestoppers, saw over 58,000 young people from all across Scotland visit the charity’s youth website Fearless.org and reported crime – 100% anonymously – more than ever before. 

Information from the public has achieved the following:

• 16,328 pieces of anonymous information were sent to Police Scotland & Law Enforcement. Whilst the headline figure is slightly below last years (a small decrease of 1%), this followed a record high year. 2020-21 saw the most disseminations (16,515) from the charity to Police Scotland in 34 years of Crimestoppers.

• Dangerous criminals and wanted offenders were thwarted. Over 350 (357) criminals were arrested and charged by police due to Crimestoppers information in Scotland. This was a fall of 35% on previous year.

• Five people were arrested and charged with murder/unlawful killings
• Three people, who were on the wanted list, were caught and charged
• Nearly 50 (48) disqualified and uninsured drivers were arrested and charged
• 54 drink/drug drivers were arrested and charged
• Over a dozen (13) charged with hate crime
• Firearms: Two were arrested for firearms offences, with one firearm and three hauls of ammunition were recovered
• ‘Street’ value of drugs recovered over half a million: £541,901
• Value of property and cash recovered: £192,856

Over the past year, 12,709 pieces of information were recorded as `actionable intelligence’ by law enforcement. This means that 78% of all Crimestoppers anonymous information sent to Police Scotland was high-quality information.

In 2022, four new £20,000 rewards were offered to support investigations that needed our support. We also issued another combined reward of £20,000.

Thanks to police action after receiving Crimestoppers reports, nearly a thousand positive outcomes followed (935). This was a 20% increase on the previous year and included 163 vulnerable and safeguarding issues.

Angela Parker, National Manager for Crimestoppers Scotland, said: ‘We are continually grateful for people across Scotland who come forward and trust us with their information.

“From drug dealing to child harm and neglect, we heard from thousands of people concerned about crime in their communities. We are so encouraged and grateful to those who contacted our charity – thanks to you, life is better for many and communities across Scotland are safer.” 

Police Scotland’s Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said: “The annual report makes it clear that our communities remain confident in using the service provided by Crimestoppers. The information provided anonymously helps Police Scotland’s officers tackle crimes that affect our citizens. 

“We also want to acknowledge the support that Fearless provides to our young people, in schools and our communities which undoubtedly helped their resilience during the past few difficult years and understand that we can also play a part in keeping everyone safe.”

“We continue to work in partnership with Crimestoppers to encourage those who may be concerned about getting in touch with us directly to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit its website to make a report anonymously.”

Minister for Community Safety Elena Whitham said: “The clear, significant impact that the information provided to Crimestoppers has had on tackling crime shows the power we all have to help keep our communities safe.

“It is extremely encouraging to see so many young people through the Fearless campaign play their part to help tackle crime. The information they have provided along with many thousands of others who have come forward has resulted in more than 300 less criminals on our streets last year.

“I would like to thank Crimestoppers, Police Scotland and members of the public for their support and efforts. The Scottish Government is backing this with £3.4 billion for justice system in the next financial year to fund vital front-line services, provide continued support for victims and witnesses, and to tackle the causes of offending.”