The Internet and cellular phones are the next frontier for catching criminals for the CrimeStoppers group along with the current methods of media campaigns and landlines, a meeting heard last week.

Bill Griffiths, a 41-year veteran of the UK's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Detective Chief Inspector given the task in 1987 of researching CrimeStoppers for the UK, gave members of the Bermuda Police Service, business partners and the media insight into the CrimeStoppers system this week.

The programme was introduced to the UK in 1987 by Mr. Griffiths.

It is an international organisation that relies on its ability to keep information anonymous not only for Bermuda, but the US, Canada and other Caribbean countries.

The information the anonymous caller gives is dealt with in strict confidence so even if a Police report was stolen or leaked no one would be able to find that information.

CrimeStoppers works because of this level of anonymity, Mr. Griffiths said.

And further developments in technology will allow the group to be truly international.

"Texting is something we are trying to launch this year," Mr. Griffiths said. "What we have to do is ensure that it won't be coming back on your billing list.

"It also needs to be in a place for asking questions back."

He hopes the system will be in place this month in the UK.

E-mails could also be a process for passing on information, but they were posing the same problems because CrimeStoppers UK does not want to lose the anonymity feature that is the basis of the programme.

The 'Most Wanted' website set-up two years ago has resulted in 400 criminals being arrested and when the 'new look' CrimeStoppers website launched in January it recorded 1 million hits on its first day.

But Mr. Griffiths, who offered up case studies and experiences of his time as detective and Deputy Commissioner of the MPS, said he didn't want to preach.

He was there to offer his experiences and ways that the UK CrimeStoppers and the Metropolitan Police were tackling crime.

"The point I really want to stress is that I am not here to tell you what to do.

"There's a tendency to preach and we should do it like this. I am aware of the difference between Bermuda and the UK, but I do think the things I tell you will resonate."

During his hour-long presentation on Thursday at Ace Ltd. headquarters, he highlighted the need for community leaders the Police can communicate with.

A few years ago the MPS were found to be institutionally racist in their operations and researching. It was his job to sort it out.

What evolved from this finding was the realisation that if someone is African or Caribbean they are four-and-a-half times more likely to be murdered then someone who is white.

That is just in London, according to Mr. Griffiths. In Los Angeles, he said, that number rose to twenty-eight percent, which is why the MPS instituted community groups that could offer advice and criticism of what the Police Service was doing.

He said: "It's uncomfortable, but it works. The public need to ask us: 'what are you going to do?' and what the community wants to see is what are we doing. It's about partnership."

And Mr. Griffiths who is visiting the Island with his wife for the week, said it is never to late for appeals to be made to the public and it's never to late to give information to CrimeStoppers.

During his time on the MPS he even made an appeal for a crime that was 15 years old and eyewitnesses came forward helping to pinpoint the criminal.

If anyone does have information they believe would be helpful in solving a crime in Bermuda, the anonymous number to call is 1-800-623-8477.