Crimestoppers celebrates 20 years with a brand new website

[23rd January 2008]

To mark its twentieth anniversary, the UK charity, Crimestoppers, has given its www.crimestoppers-uk.org website a complete makeover. From today, the new site which uses the latest in online technology, goes live.

Crimestoppers is also delighted to announce that FACT (The Federation Against Copyright Theft) has come on board as site sponsor for three months. Since last October, FACT has been working in partnership with Crimestoppers to encourage reporting of criminal activity in audio-visual piracy and to draw attention to the serious impact counterfeiting can have on wider communities.

The new website has been designed by Precedent Communications and features a number of enhanced features, such as case studies, a crime prevention area, polls and information in different languages.

One of the special features is a purpose-built appeals management system designed specifically for police forces to enter appeals into a central database. Users can monitor the appeals through sophisticated search methods and then send valuable and potentially life-saving information to Crimestoppers quickly and anonymously.

The search functionality for the popular ‘Most Wanted' section (www.crimestoppers-uk.org/mostwanted/) - where visitors can help solve crimes - has been vastly improved where you can now search by crime type, region, postcode and specific appeal. RSS feeds are also an option if you want to be kept up to date with new appeals in a specific region. There is an increased emphasis on local news which can now be accessed from any page on the site. A survey carried out by Crimestoppers, showed that more than 70% of visitors to its site were looking for local information.

Crimestoppers' CEO, Michael Laurie CBE, said: “For twenty years Crimestoppers has relied on the public to use the 0800 555 111 telephone number to report crime anonymously and we hope that through this new website even more people will be aware of our charity and how they can help to remove criminals from our streets.

“I am delighted to welcome FACT on board as our first-ever site sponsor. We share a common interest in tracking down serious criminal activity in piracy and copyright theft.”

Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, added: “FACT is delighted to continue to support the work of Crimestoppers which has been a valuable partner for us already. Audio-visual piracy is criminal activity and such activity brings harm to local communities by attracting other crimes and much of the trade in counterfeit DVDs is controlled by organised criminal networks.”

Notes to editors

Crimestoppers is an independent charity dedicated to solving crimes and taking criminals off the streets. Around 17 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers. One person every five days is charged with murder.

Since Crimestoppers began in 1988, it has received nearly 960,000 calls with useful information, resulting in over 80,000 arrests and charges. Over £100 million worth of property has been recovered and over £144 million worth of drugs.

Crimestoppers UK was founded by Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Chairman of Trustees. In 1988, he launched Crimestoppers in the Metropolitan Police area. Crimestoppers is built on a three-way partnership between the business community, the police and the media.

About FACT

The Federation Against Copyright Theft is the UK's leading trade organisation established to protect and represent the interests of the film and broadcasting industry against copyright and trademark infringements.

Established in 1983, FACT works closely with statutory law enforcement agencies to combat the growth of pirate DVDs, film and other forms of broadcast material including the increasing threat from online/internet based piracy. FACT has been accepted as a prosecution authority and engages in criminal prosecutions in its own right.

The maximum penalty for offences of film piracy is 10 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Proceeds of Crime Act legislation now also enables confiscation of assets and goods obtained through criminal activity.

The loss from piracy to the UK audio-visual sector was £459m in 2006.

More information: http://www.fact-uk.org.uk

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