How do you stop crime? Get the public involved.

This was the message Crime Stoppers treasurer David Pugh brought to Hamilton Lions during their meeting this week at Ascot's Restaurant.

Mr. Pugh said most crimes were not solved by brilliant investigations, but with the help of information provided by the public.

A young Police officer in Albuquerque, New Mexico named Greg MacAleese realised this when a 1976 murder was solved with the help of a man who saw a reenactment of the crime on television, Mr. Pugh said.

Since then Crime Stoppers had grown into an international organisation with more than 1,200 groups in some 20 countries.

Crime Stoppers has solved about half a million major crimes and had helped with the imprisonment of more than 80,000 criminals.

It began last year in Bermuda under the leadership of former Police Commissioner Lennie Edwards.

Former Assistant Commissioner Wayne Perinchief was the Police liaison officer responsible the programme, Mr. Pugh added.

Mr. Perinchief and Crime Stoppers' chairman McNeil Warner assembled an 11-member civilian board of directors.

Mr. Pugh said the directors were looking forward to working with the recently-appointed Police liaison officer Insp. Archie Husbands.

Crime Stoppers directors come from many different sectors of the community including the banks, insurance companies, small businesses, churches, media, and the Island's service clubs.

Mr. Pugh noted that the programme was officially launched by Premier David Saul and Police Commissioner Colin Coxall on September 12, last year.

A confidential Police information gathering system, Crime Stoppers uses an untraceable toll free number (1-800-623-TIPS) to receive its calls.

Mr. Pugh said people wishing to give information on a crime can call 24-hours a day and talk anonymously to specially appointed liaison officers.

He also said crime stoppers was a three-way operation which involved the public, media, and Police with each having a vital part.

Public awareness, which is created by the media, was a vital part of Crime Stoppers success, Mr. Pugh said, because awareness brought a response and a response led to results.

But Mr. Pugh admitted that some people were reluctant to give information out of fear and apathy.

To counter this, he said, Crime Stoppers provided complete anonymity for those who were afraid and a cash reward for the apathetic.

Each call was logged and in an effort to keep callers anonymous each caller was assigned a code number to use if they needed to call back, Mr. Pugh explained.

Information was passed onto the officer responsible for the case and if the caller called back they were told the result of their tips.

According to Mr. Pugh about 75 percent of the callers merely wanted to see justice done and were not interested in the reward.

Ranging between $50 and $1,000, the reward was determined by the civilian board using a points system ranging from 10 points for a serious crime, such as murder, to one point for lesser offences such as joy riding.

Added factors, such as recovered weapons and exceptional drug seizures, gave the caller more points.

Mr. Pugh said to date Crime Stoppers Bermuda had given out $8,000 in rewards.

To protect the callers, he added, rewards could be collected in public places such as bank offices, insurance companies, and dry cleaning stores. Drop-offs, which was most popular, could also be arranged.

Since the beginning of Crime Stoppers Bermuda, Mr. Pugh said a total of 250 calls had been received, 11 of which were received since last Friday of which six were concerning information on recent murder cases.