500 Most Wanted criminals arrested

Most Wanted, the charity Crimestoppers' online tool for law enforcement to publicise wanted suspects, has helped police to arrest 500 criminals in just over three years since launching in 2005.

The 500th arrest was made by Nottinghamshire Police of a local man wanted for taking/interfering with conveyances.

Most Wanted is part of the crime-fighting charity's website www.crimestoppers-uk.org and is the place for police to upload appeals for their most wanted individuals, to help find where criminals may be hiding and to identify people unknown to the police.

The Most Wanted page is the most popular area of Crimestoppers' website, with 215,000 unique visitors last year, which is about one in every two visitors to the site.

Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Founder and Chair of Crimestoppers, said: “Most Wanted has assisted the police to appeal to the public for information on some extremely dangerous and violent individuals. In just over three years of launching, 500 criminals have been arrested. This shows how powerful the internet is in the fight against crime and how useful the public find it, by providing a quick and easy way to look at appeals from across the country and to pass on vital information about these suspects anonymously.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Waterfield, Director of Intelligence, Nottinghamshire Police, said: “In addition to this great news, I am also pleased to say that here in Nottinghamshire we are at the top of all 43 forces in the country in making arrests through Most Wanted. It is quite fitting that we have made that 500th arrest, as to date we have arrested 121 of those 500. We cannot take the credit for these arrests, the hard work is done by the public who access the site and go on to give invaluable information that leads to the arrests.”

In addition to stand-alone appeals, there are many campaigns run through Most Wanted, working in partnership with: the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on Operation Captura, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) and feeding appeals through to The Sun newspaper online and http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/crime .

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For more information contact Lisa Gains, Media Officer on 020 8254 3252/07795 564313 or lisa.gains@crimestoppers-uk.org .

Notes to editors

• Who chooses the appeals on Most Wanted? Police forces across the UK are responsible for the appeals on the site. They choose who goes on Most Wanted and who does not. The nature of the crime or the investigation will have an influence on whether an appeal is put on Most Wanted. The police are also responsible for the accuracy of the appeal information provided and removing appeals.
• Crimestoppers is an independent charity which helps the police to solve crimes, making communities safer. It does this by operating the 24/7 telephone number 0800 555 111 which people can ring to pass on information about crimes anonymously. They can also use our ‘giving information' form via our website www.crimestoppers-uk.org
• 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 over a million actionable calls, resulting in nearly 90,000 arrests and charges. Over £105 million worth of property has been recovered and over £160 million worth of drugs.
• In 2006, Crimestoppers launched the UK's Most Wanted on its website which allows the public to view images of criminals and pass on vital information about their whereabouts. It has been highly successful with nearly 500 arrests to date.
• Crimestoppers UK was founded by Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Chairman of Trustees. In 1988, he launched Crimestoppers in the Metropolitan Police area. Crimestoppers ‘call to action' is built on a three-way partnership between the business community, the police and the media.
• In September 2007, Crimestoppers launched a youth website www.shadowcs.co.uk which allows young people to give information anonymously online.

Charity number: 1108687