$900 Million Recovered Under Crime Stop

More than $900 million worth of narcotics and other illicit items have been recovered within the last 25 years, as a result of anonymous calls made to Crime Stop.

National Security Minister, Hon. Peter Bunting, who made the disclosure on Tuesday (December 16), said information received from calls made to the agency has also led to the Seizure of some 700 illegal firearms and 51,000 rounds of ammunition.

Mr. Bunting was addressing the launch of a $12 million marketing partnership involving Guardsman Group, Crime Stop, and Signtex at the Guardsman offices on Old Hope Road in St. Andrew.

The Minister further informed that since its inception in 1989, Crime Stop, one of the island’s foremost crime fighting initiatives, has received a total of 25,000 calls, leading to the arrest of more than 2,300 suspects.

He pointed out that the initiative has been “a very significant player in the Government’s efforts to make Jamaica safer and more secure.”

Meanwhile, Director of Operations at Guardsman Group, George Overton, informed that the partnership will see the installation of 60 reflective ‘Crime Stop’ signs across the island, over the next four years, at a cost of $12 million.

The initial roll-out of the programme, which will begin in Kingston, is expected to cost some $5.6 million.

For his part, Director, Crime Stop, Michael Hirst, said the agency has had an “extremely successful” track record since it started some 25 years ago.

He noted, however, that Crime Stop is unable to announce many of its success stories, due to the anonymous nature of the information it receives.

“We cannot publicise our successes as we would like, because doing so would risk compromising some informants and Crime Stop has never been compromised,” he stated.

Crime Stop is a not-for-profit organisation, which is funded by donations from the private sector including trade, professional and service organisations.

The programme is administered by the National Crime Prevention Fund and is run under the direction of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).