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Tip-offs continue to nail criminals, thanks to Crime Line

ADreach is one of the many companies that supports the Crime Line inititaive. This is one of the company's street pole adverts with the latest Crime Line creative, which can be seen at 18 points along some of Johannesburg busiest roads.

Chronicle reporter

National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele has applauded the successes of the Crime Line initiative and has thrown his full weight behind the project which has led to the arrest of 828 individuals since its launch in 2007.

Anonymous tip-offs from the public led to 19 arrests in September, proving that individuals can make a difference in the fight against crime by smsing their information to Crime Line. 14 of the 19 cases related to drug possession and dealing, two cases involved the possession of unlicensed firearms, there was one fraud case, a case of possession of suspected stolen property and one chop shop was raided.

Drugs and property worth R372 740 were seized by police following tip offs over recent weeks taking the total seizures since the launch of Primedia’s Crime Line in June 2007 to over R31-million.

“The figures for the past few weeks are impressive, and they are a testament to the impact Crime Line has on our communities and the good work being done by the SAPS,” said Crime Line head, Yusuf Abramjee. “We need to encourage even more people to sms any information they have on suspicious behaviour to 3 22 11 or go to www.crimeline.co.za.

Please make sure that the information is detailed.” National Commissioner Cele said, “There have been some good breakthroughs and it is impressive to see members of the community also blowing the whistle on organised crime syndicates. The chop shop that was raided recently is a good example of how detailed information can assist the police.”

And the winners are… The “Star of the Stars” award for the month of September goes to a team that has won before and continues to go the extra mile to follow up on tip-offs. Captain Lee Wood and his team from the Gauteng Crime Line Nodal Point made no fewer than seven arrests and seized goods to the value of R326 880. One of their biggest busts followed a Crime Line tip off about a suspect in Yeoville selling false documentation.

The tip off included a full address where the team discovered CDs full of false drivers licenses; blank pages with SAPS certified true copy stamps and dates; diploma certificates and many other documents. Equipment to the value of R15 000 was seized. Another highlight for the team was the discovery of a chop shop in Linbro Park. Five vehicles estimated to be worth R300 000 were recovered and investigations are continuing. All the other tip-off arrests were in connection with drugs, namely dagga, heroin and cocaine rocks.

“The majority of tip-offs Crime Line received are drug related and it is satisfying that these officers have made an example of five dealers and drug abusers in the last month, said national commissioner Cele. “For this and their excellent work, they are worthy winners of this month’s star of the stars award.” Captain Wood, together with his team consisting of Inspectors Davis, Clark, Nxumalo, Duba, Botha and Ntontela will receive a R5 000 gift voucher from Pick n Pay who sponsor the Star of the Stars award each month.

Did you know?

Crime Line enjoys the support of government, NGO’s, the private sector and various media organisations.
Various Primedia companies including Talk Radio 702, 94.7 Highveld Stereo, 567 Cape Talk and 94.5 Kfm constantly promote it. Other media partners include the SABC, Multichoice, Jacaranda FM, Algoa FM, community radio stations, Caxton Community Newspapers and various other publications.

Send your anonymous tip offs to 3 22 11 or via the website, www.crimeline.co.za

Published on October 8, 2009 at 1:43 pm