McDowell urges public to join fight on crime

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has urged the public to take personal responsibility for helping the gardaí in their fight against crime.

Mr McDowell was speaking at the relaunch of the Garda Crimestoppers phoneline this morning.  He conceded there was "no easy solution" to the problem of crime. "But we can't simply say crime is a matter for the Garda Síochána," he said.

Crimestoppers has been proven to lower crime, help in the fight against drugs and increase the confidence of tourists and people concerned about crime, the Minister said.  He also urged all businesses to do what they could to help Crimestoppers, as there is "virtually no business that can't benefit" from a reduction in crime.

The Garda Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy, said the service was particularly useful for gardaí in encouraging people who would be unwilling to talk to them unless they could do so anonymously. All calls will be dealt with "in the strictest confidence", he insisted.

Over half of all calls in the past have been to do with drug dealing. Mr Conroy said information passed on by the public had lead to a number of significant seizures of drugs.

Mr Conroy said media co-operation was vital for the success of the service. An initiative last year whereby stills from CCTV cameras were circulated to television programmes and newspapers resulted in a five-fold increase in calls to Crimestoppers.

The phoneline will be manned by officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Harcourt Street, who have been specially trained to deal with witnesses who may be passing on information reluctantly.

The number, 1800-405060, will be live from next Monday, when it will be launched prior to the broadcast of a new RTÉ television programme, Crime Call, the following evening.

The phoneline is being funded by a €100,000 grant from the Department of Justice. This money has been matched by contributions from the Vintners's Federation of Ireland, Ulster Bank, the Irish Petroleum Industry Association and various public service bodies.

Crimestoppers was originally set up six years ago by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and An Garda Síochána. A cash reward of up to €5,000 may be paid in certain cases. These are paid at the discretion of the gardaí.