l So far in 2011, Crime Stoppers Bermuda has received 82 tips (as at the end of July): 48 to its Miami ‘call centre’ and 34 through its website. Those tips, which came in on a daily basis, assisted police and customs in arresting five people, clearing six cases and continue to help with ongoing inquiries.l Eleven of the tips were about murder, 38 about narcotics, 15 about weapons, three about theft and three about robbery. The others concerned assault, immigration, arson, burglary, fugitives, fraud and a potential shooting.l Last year, 139 tips were received in total. The information assisted local law enforcement with the arrests of 12 people and led to 18 solved cases, the recovery of $4,900 worth of property and the seizure of $1.2 million worth of drugs.l Most of last year’s tips (47) were about narcotics. There were 27 about weapons, 26 about murder and six about gang fights.l Since 1996, tips to Crime Stoppers Bermuda have led to the seizure of almost $22 million worth of drugs and the recovery of more than $1.6 million dollars worth of property.l Crime Stoppers started when a detective investigating a fatal robbery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1976 took the unusual step of offering a locally-funded reward for anonymous information to help solve the crime. The idea was successful and caught on across the US, leading to the formation of Crime Stoppers and, in later years, Crime Stoppers International, with which Bermuda is affiliated.l Between 1976 and July 2010, globally, tips given to Crime Stoppers led to almost 830,000 arrests, the recovery of almost $2 billion worth of property and the seizure of $7.8 billion worth of drugs. Almost $100 million was paid out in rewards.l There are Crime Stoppers programmes in 28 countries and the organisation claims it assists in solving a crime somewhere in the world every 14 minutes.l Crime Stoppers Bermuda was launched in 1996 by a team including then Assistant Police Commissioner Wayne Perinchief, who is now National Security Minister. The first chairman was the late McNeil Warner.l Bermuda is part of the Caribbean regional programmes, along with Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos. The regional chairman and global vice president of Crime Stoppers International is Alexander MacDonald, a civilian board member of Crime Stoppers Bermuda.l The Crime Stoppers Bermuda number is 800-8477 (TIPS), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the website is www.crimestoppers.bm