What happens after you give us information?

When you contact our charity by calling us at anytime or completing an online form anonymously, we create a report that brings together all the information you gave us, making sure it doesn't contain any information that could identify you. 

Where inaccurate information is passed with malicious intent, we will work with law enforcement officers to help them try to identify the source.

Where is my report sent to?

Your report is 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 your local police force or an agency such as the UK Border Agency or HM Revenue & Customs.

How long does it take before action is taken on my information?

 When your report is given to law enforcement, they need to:

• thoroughly research the information you have given to act on it
• make sure that information is accurate and not given with the intention of 'setting someone up'
• have other intelligence that supports the information received from us.

The police cannot get a search warrant or make an arrest based solely on anonymous information. It takes time to research and investigate a crime, but your information goes a long way to helping the police make arrests.

Once the information has been researched, law enforcement will allocate this to an appropriate officer or team to deal with. This could mean more research, or action may be taken.

Why it may appear nothing has happened after contacting Crimestoppers at times

We can't influence how long it can take for law enforcement to act on information you have given. There could be many reasons for the process taking time:

• the information may be crucial to a larger investigation where action may take place later on
• the information may remain on file which helps to solve crime at a later date, or
• more information may be required before action can be taken.

So even if you don't see a quick resolution, don't think your information hasn't been of use.

Find out more about our anonymity guarantee.