After Crimestoppers teamed up with the Ministry of Justice’s National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to launch a joint project for prisoners in the prison establishments in England and Wales to pass on anonymous information, we now have a number of positive results to celebrate following an evaluation of the scheme [3 July 2012].

The service, which allows prisoners to give information about criminal activity both within prisons and on the outside by using a designated PIN number to direct calls to crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers, has proved popular with the prison population, showing trust in the charity and confidence in the anonymity of the service.

Achieving national coverage on Sky News among other media outlets, the system allows prisoners to pass on information safe in the knowledge that their call will not be monitored by the authorities.

Service widely used

Aims of the joint operation include trying to tackle the trafficking of illegal drugs from the outside and the smuggling of mobile phones which are then used as currency or used to contact and intimidate witnesses.

The evaluation shows that the system is successfully meeting these aims as the crime type that Crimestoppers received the most information about was the importation of illegal drugs, with 169 pieces of information received between April 2010 – December 2011, followed by information about mobile phones.

Information was also received about prisoners trying to escape from prison and in relation to protecting members of the public, among other categories.

From the report we can also see that the service has been widely used; with the intelligence gathered relating to 105 different prisons across England and Wales.