This initiative is being highlighted across the country today (Monday 16 February 2015), in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and ACT.

In NSW, the focus of this year’s National Crime Stoppers Day is to seek community support in combating the devastating impact of prohibited drugs, particularly methylamphetamine (‘ice’).

Crime Stoppers offers a way for people to report information about crime and criminal activity to the NSW Police that could help officers either prevent or solve a crime.

NSW Crime Stoppers is encouraging the community to save the Crime Stoppers number 1800 333 000 into their phones.

The use and supply of ice spans the entire geography of this state, which is why a united approach between Crime Stoppers, law enforcement and the community is needed to tackle this dangerous drug.

Operational Communication and Information Commander, Assistant Commissioner Peter Barrie, said Crime Stoppers has become an integral part of policing in NSW.

“We’ve seen many benefits of Crime Stoppers; including reports that have helped police detect and dismantle clandestine labs used for the manufacture of illegal drugs like ice,” Assistant Commissioner Barrie said.

Callers can remain anonymous when providing information to Crime Stoppers, which they can do via phone, online report, email, fax or letter.

“Since its inception, Crime Stoppers has grown exponentially, with more than 76,000 contacts to NSW Crime Stoppers during 2014,” Assistant Commissioner Barrie said.

“We have a dedicated team of more than 250 trained Crime Stoppers operators who answer phone calls and take online reports from members of the public 24 hours a day.

“The team is then able to create information reports that are provided to operational police to assist them in solving crime.

“During 2014, more than 24,000 information reports were created. It could just be a titbit of information, but it might also be the key to solving a crime.”

Some examples where Crime Stoppers information assisted police:

On 29 October 2014, police from Chifley Local Area Command executed a search warrant in Bathurst after information was received to Crime Stoppers via phone as well as their online reporting page. Following further investigations, police seized a quantity of methamphetamine from a man’s workplace and vehicle with an estimated potential street value of approximately $150,000.The man was later charged with drug supply offences.

On the 10 October 2014, Crime Stoppers received a call in relation to alleged suspicious activity at a premise in the Narara area, on the state’s Central Coast. Acting on this information, officers attached to Brisbane Water Local Area Command attended the premises on 17 October, where they spoke with a female occupant. Upon inspection, police located 48 cannabis plants and a further 1.29kgs of dried cannabis, with a combined estimated potential street value of more than $110,000. A male resident was later charged with a number of serious drug related offences.

On 16 December 2014, Crime Stoppers received an anonymous call about an alleged hydroponic set up in the back of a truck in the Yanco area. Police from Griffith Local Area Command later utilised this information and executed a search warrant. This resulted in 12 charges being laid regarding various drug and firearm related offences.

Drug Squad Commander, Detective Superintendant Tony Cooke, said there is an urgent need to identify those who manufacture and supply ice.

“Ice is a highly addictive and incredibly dangerous substance that’s having a detrimental effect on individuals, families and communities right across the state,” Det Supt Cooke said.

“Our major focus is combating the supply of ice. Whether we seize 50kg, 10kg or 1kg, we’re preventing thousands of deals from reaching the street and potentially saving thousands of victims.

“Communities across NSW are doing their bit to help police to remove the scourge of ice and we’re encouraging more people to take up the challenge.

“Ice is often manufactured in clandestine laboratories that are established in apartments, homes and factories where people not only produce the drug, but also risk the health and safety of neighbours and future residents,” Det Supt Cooke said.

“These labs are highly-combustible and pollutant riddled posing a great risk to the community and contaminating the properties and soil around them.

“We urge you to familiarise yourself with the seven signs of a drug house. If any properties in your neighbourhood raise suspicion then contact Crime Stoppers immediately.

“The role the community can play in helping us shut these labs down cannot be overstated,” Det Supt Cooke said.

The seven signs that could indicate a drug house in your neighbourhood:

– Strange odours

– Diverted electricity

– Chemical containers and waste

– Blacked-out windows

– Hoses and pipes in strange places

– Blinds down, with extremely bright indoor lighting radiating through gaps

– Vehicles arriving at odd hours

NSW Crime Stoppers CEO, Peter Price, said Crime Stoppers has not only been successful in Australia, but it’s also an effective crime fighting resource across the globe.

“Globally, Crime Stoppers intelligence results in an arrest every 14 minutes, somewhere in the world, while in NSW it contributes toward an arrest every 11 hours,” Mr Price said.

“In fact the number of charges laid due to Crime Stoppers has increased more than five-fold in the last 10 years, with drug-related charges accounting for 63 per cent of all Crime Stoppers-related charges.”

The NSW Police Force would like to thank everyone in the community for their valued contribution to Crime Stoppers and we urge you to save the contact number in your phone.

The Crime Stoppers number can also be accessed through the Emergency + app, which can be downloaded from either Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

You can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/ Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.