Crimestoppers
Fearless - our youth service
Reflections of a Sky News crime correspondent
Crimestoppers and my Sky career were born around the same time, but only one of them is flagging and beginning to look a bit frayed around the edges. Unlike a TV reporter, the charity seems to improve with age and has had, in my view, one of its most effective years.
Significant evidence in the chilling murder of Liverpool schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel emerged through Crimestoppers and helped nail the conviction of an arrogant killer who thought he was untouchable.
The biggest ever reward persuaded witnesses, reluctant to talk to the police, to come forward and do the right thing: the simple principle on which Crimestoppers was founded.
Anonymous donor
I met and interviewed the anonymous businessman whose belief in the charity’s work prompted a huge, generous reward matched by Lord Ashcroft’s own financial commitment, that rose to a record combined £200,000.
With great clarity, the private donor explained what encouraged him to act: “I understand people’s reluctance to speak out and I’ve thought about my own safety in putting up the reward. Like others, I had doubts and worries, but Crimestoppers assured me my identity would be protected. The bottom line is that this was horrific, the murder of a young girl. It doesn’t come much worse than that.”
I don’t know whether the reward was paid out or even claimed, but most of them aren’t.
A rewarding relationship
Rewards do, though, drive publicity, which is where crime hacks like me come in, and I readily admit that my long relationship with Crimestoppers has been happy and fruitful. I wish I could say the same about my dealings with certain police forces who these days tend to treat journalists as a threat rather than an asset; a ludicrous situation. Today, with poor public confidence in policing, the charity’s work in encouraging people to speak up has never been more needed.
Hunting fugitives abroad
Crimestoppers has always been one of the important organisations on the radar of a crime reporter.
But it wasn’t until someone called me and asked, “would you like to cover the launch of a Most Wanted campaign, Operation Captura…but you’ll have to spend a couple of days in Spain”, that I really appreciated the charity’s work.
On foreign assignments, reporters prefer to pack suncream, rather than thermal underwear, in their suitcase.
Thankfully, British fugitives rarely go and hide anywhere below 20 degrees. Hot sun, cold beer is the golden rule.
I soon discovered our viewers love to play detective, and media coverage of these Most Wanted appeals – a joint venture between Crimestoppers and the National Crime Agency – really did make a difference.
When Operation Captura concluded, 87 of the 95 fugitives featured had been caught or surrendered and were later extradited. A winning combination: justice, victim satisfaction and a good detective story.
Martin Brunt, Author: No One Got Cracked Over the Head for No Reason: Dispatches from a Crime Reporter.
Connections is our annual publication giving a voice to organisations and influencers we work with who share our aim of helping to make communities and workplaces safer.
