Crime Stop Claims 99 Per Cent Public Confidence Rate on 20th Anniversary

Coordinator of the Crime Stop 311 programme, Prudence Gentles, has reported that, for the last three years, there has been a 99 per cent confidence rate in Crime Stop.
Speaking in an interview with JIS News Tuesday (February 10), Mrs. Gentles said that the public has been supportive of the initiative since its inception 20 years ago.
“A couple of surveys were done and, for the past three years, we have been seeing a 99 per cent confidence rate in Crime Stop. That is gratifying”, she said.
She added that while some Jamaicans are afraid of being identified, the majority believe that Crime Stop works.
“People do believe that Crime Stop works. It’s just that sometimes people have reservations about calling, because they think that we want to know who they are”, she stated.
Mrs. Gentles says that no one has ever been compromised in Crime Stop, and urged Jamaicans to continue giving information.
“I told persons, 20 years ago, that no one will be compromised and no one has been compromised in Crime Stop. We don’t want to know who is calling. I am appealing to everybody, because this is everybody’s business, if you have information, just give us a call and give us the information”, she appealed.
Mrs. Gentles told JIS News that, while there is a 1.6 per cent decline in calls for 2008 compared to 2007, the clear up rate for 2008 increased marginally.
“In 2007, we received 809 calls and in 2008 we received 794, so we had 15 less calls in the latter year. However, the clear up rate for 2008, compared to previous years, is much better: for every five calls that we received (in 2008) we had one success. While in 2007, it was one in every seven calls. So, we have improved slightly”, she said.
She said that of the 794 calls received last year, the majority were about illegal firearms.
“When we categorised the calls, most of them were about illegal firearms which accounted for 212. Some of the calls, 112, of them had to do with gunmen; murder, 76; drug related information, 75; wanted men, 74; information on stolen vehicles, 33; suspicious persons, 22; suspicious activities, 14; illegal activities, 14; information on stolen property, 11; carnal abuse, 9; and child abuse, 10,” she said.
Crime Stop was launched in September 1989, and is a partnership between the Police, the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Media.
The public is encouraged to call in, and give information about crimes which have already been committed, might be committed or are being committed. Persons reporting a crime do not have to give their names, only the information.