Issue details

The reasons for the decision are:

In 2005 police forces in England and Wales agreed, through a Service Level Agreement, to each provide an annual payment for the operation of the national Crimestoppers call centre facility. This consists of a dedicated telephone line and online reporting facility, operating 24 hours a day. This agreement is now managed through an annual contract managed directly by Greater Manchester Police. The payment of £104,500 will be provided to Greater Manchester Police, to make payment directly as the Contracting Authority for the contract.

About the service

After receiving a call or a completed anonymous online form from a member of the public, a report is created that brings together all the information, ensuring that it doesn't contain any information that could identify the individual. The report is then sent to the relevant authority with the legal responsibility to investigate crimes, make arrests and charge people in order to bring them to justice. This could be the local police force or an agency such as the UK Border Agency or HM Revenue & Customs.

Crimestoppers also share advice on how the public can protect themselves from crime and develop local communication and awareness campaigns.

Discussions have been held with the Superintendent within the Force Intelligence Branch to confirm that the Crimestoppers service remains an important source of information for GMP. It provides an additional channel of communication for members of the public to report crime, raise concerns regarding safety or provide intelligence, independent of the police. The anonymity provided will appeal to those who do not wish to contact the police directly but do want to provide information. The service provides the police with intelligence it may otherwise have not received in the fight against crime.

A recent report provided by Crimestoppers indicates the following outcomes in Greater Manchester:
• Over the last three years community intelligence given to Crimstoppers in the North West has risen from 29,063 reports per year between 2018-2019 to 33,101 in 2021/2022. (12,750 reports, increased from 11,041 in Greater Manchester).
• The Crimestoppers website has been viewed over 200,000 times by GM residents in the last 12 months (up from 162,000 the previous year.

Comments have been sought from Greater Manchester Police who value to work of the crimestoppers service and see it as critical in enabling people to report crime and build intelligence.