Gardaí relaunch confidential tip-off phoneline and TV show

LARGE amounts of drugs have been seized following calls to a freephone number that was in danger of being scrapped because of a lack of funding.

Crimestoppers, a confidential number people can phone to tip off gardaí, has also helped investigations into murders, armed robberies and other serious crimes, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said yesterday.

The line was relaunched as the Government pledged seed money for a fresh start and promised €100,000 a year to match private sector funding.

Crimestoppers will also sponsor a new RTÉ television programme entitled Crimecall - similar to Crimeline - which ended earlier this year after nearly 12 years.

Like Crimeline, Crimecall will use CCTV stills, reconstructions, have two studio-based presenters, interviews with investigators and banks of manned telephones in the background.

On the first programme of the monthly series, to be broadcast next Tuesday, the public will be asked to help in the investigation of the suspicious death of Lithuanian father-of-two Arunos Gelzinis, whose body was discovered in a stream in the Glen of the Downs, Co Wicklow.

Commissioner Conroy said the availability of Crimestoppers to “hard to reach groups” was a critical factor in its success. With the relaunch, he expects the number of calls to increase. He said 50% of all calls concerned drugs and some have resulted in large seizures.

Crimestoppers, set up in 1998, was in danger of folding after main sponsor An Post withdrew its support. Justice Minister Michael McDowell met with the Crimestoppers board and senior gardaí earlier this year to discuss a rescue plan. The minister also appealed for financial support from business leaders.

At the launch yesterday, Mr McDowell said his department’s commitment to the “unique crime-fighting partnership” was by making a special provision of up to €100,000, depending on how much businesses were prepared to pledge.

At the same time as Crimestoppers was facing a crisis, it was announced that the long-running Crimeline programme was to go off the air. Senior gardaí yesterday said it was also intended to replace Crimeline, although this is disputed by television industry sources.

Crimestoppers chairman John Hynes urged the public to become involved in the fight against crime. “Only after we ourselves as businesses and individual citizens have taken practical steps to prevent or detect crime can we legitimately place demands on the criminal justice system,” he said.