The purpose of Crimestoppers is to enable those people who know about criminals, or about crimes, to pass information to the police anonymously. These are usually people who are too frightened of the criminals to come forward, or are very close to them.

Crimestoppers is organised in such a way that people can telephone a well known number, usually for free, and pass the information to an independent organisation that is separate to the police or the interior ministry. This organisation then passes any relevant information onto the police, making sure that the caller’s identity is protected. Crimestoppers is extremely successful, making a significant contribution to the prevention, solution and reduction of crime.

Crimestoppers publicises the telephone number nationally, and encourages people to use it. Crimestoppers also uses particular types of crime, such as drug dealing, or gun crime, as campaign tools to focus the public’s attention.

Some Crimestoppers organisations offer rewards to people who provide valuable information, the reward also being given anonymously.

The purpose of this web site is to provide information and points of contact for the current Crimestoppers organisations in Europe, and for those interested in setting up a new organisation. There is no single model that fits everybody; each country has an organisation that fits its laws and its structure – but the underlying concept is the same.