CALLS to Crimestoppers led to the seizure of about £40,000-worth of illegal drugs last year. Police make one arrest for every 12 calls locally on average – which compares very favourably with all areas of the UK.

In 2005, Crimestoppers in Guernsey received a total of 226 calls, which led to the arrest of 19 people. Last year, it received 259 – a 14.6% rise – which led to the arrest of 22 – a 15.8% rise.

As well as the controlled drug seizures, about £375-worth of stolen goods was also recovered.

‘The Guernsey population have embraced the concept of Crimestoppers and it continues to be an effective tool to combat crime, criminality and antisocial behaviour,’ said crime prevention officer PC Bernie English.

‘Crimestoppers gives anyone with any information about matters of crime and other offences including drink-driving and motoring offences a means of enabling them to pass that information to the authorities with a complete promise of anonymity and trust.

‘The fundamental principles of Crimestoppers are that the caller is completely anonymous, all calls made from landlines are free calls and a financial reward can be claimed on application for any calls that lead to an arrest and charge. This reward is also paid anonymously.’

When representatives from the National Crimestoppers Board visited the island, they said that statistically Guernsey was one of the most successful jurisdictions due to the high number of responses and percentage of calls which were actionable.

‘Crimestoppers supports all initiatives that assist the police in dealing with and managing or reducing crime, particularly when it’s a community-driven initiative,’ said Crimestoppers local chairman Andrew Ozanne.

‘Crimestoppers is a charity and there to support the community. It relies on the community making use of the services, which it does. We are probably one of the most successful Crimestoppers anywhere – we have had a tremendous response from the public.

‘We have increased our profile in the community and the Shop a Yob scheme has been very successful.’