Do you know that you can use the services of Belize Crime Stoppers and become an integral part of fighting crime in Belize? All you have to do is pick up the phone, make a free call to Crime Stoppers Center and anonymously give crime tips, report a crime or give identification of possible criminals within your community. Personnel from Crime Stoppers Belize stopped by San Pedro on Thursday, August 30, 2012, to share information with key neighborhood watch members and the San Pedro Police Departme
Chief Operating Officer of Crime Stoppers Belize, Mrs. Chris Garcia, was accompanied to San Pedro by two important personnel involved in Crime Stoppers. Mr. Richard Masten, Executive Director of Miami Dade Crime Stoppers and Valerie Hall, former detective at Miami Dade Police Department were key to share their expertise and experience with members of neighborhood watch groups and the San Pedro Police who attended the meeting. They shared information on how Crime Stoppers works in Belize and around the world and how the Ambergris Caye community can take advantage of this service and take an active role in fighting crime.
Chief Operating Officer of Crime Stoppers Belize, Mrs. Chris Garcia with Mr. Richard Masten, Executive Director of Miami Dade Crime Stoppers
rime Stoppers Belize is a community based program, which enables memers of the general public to anonymously provide information about unsolved crimes, and to receive rewards of up to $1,000 or more when an arrest is made and someone is charged for a crime.
The vast majority of crimes are solved through a combination of investigative work by the Police and from information provided by the public. However, many residents are afraid of retaliation, don’t show any real interest or desire to remain anonymous.
“The Crime Stoppers program has proven to be very effective in catching criminals in Belize,” commented Valerie Hall. “We have been successful in catching criminals and closing cases here in Belize, but we need people to be more active with the system so as to bring forth more positive results.”
Crime Stoppers Belize is an excellent service which eliminates all the stress involved in reporting a crime. Residents can file a report at home with a simple phone call that does not cost them anything and remain anonymous with the phone call not even appearing on their phone bill. The caller’s anonymity is assured through the Crime Stoppers Belize hotline 0-800-922-TIPS (8477).
The telephone hotline is free of charge to the caller; it is answered by professionally trained operators in an overseas call center and the information is then passed by a Crime Stoppers Coordinator to the appropriate Belize Law Enforcement Agency. So there is no chance for anybody to recognize your voice or read your caller id information over the phone; everything is kept private and untraceable.
Callers are not asked to give their name or contact number, but are instead given a unique Caller-ID that will subsequently be used by the caller to obtain an update on the success of their tip and to collect their reward payment if there is an arrest and someone is charged for a crime. For those callers that have provided information leading to an arrest and someone being charged for a crime and, and who wish to claim the reward, they are able to call the hotline to arrange the payment at any one of various nominated payment locations that have been set up throughout Belize. This payment is made anonymously, without the need for the caller to reveal their identity.
Meeting up with the Crime Stoppers representatives gave new insight to those who attended the meeting, especially members of the island’s neighborhood watch groups who will now share this knowledge with their large network of crime stoppers on the island. Crime Stoppers Belize expressed their interest in continuing to work along with San Pedro with future programs and events.
You Can Help!
Help with the fight against crime and make your community a safer place to live:
*Call 0-800-922-8477 with information in connection with any unsolved crime
*Make a financial contribution to Crime Stoppers Belize by calling 604-5437 or visit their website at www.crimestoppersbelize.org
*Promote the program to family, friends and acquaintances.
The Rotary Clubs of Belize are committed to making Crime Stoppers a successful program. Together with the media, the community and law enforcement agencies, we can all actively participate in removing criminals off the streets.
