Reporting to Crime Stoppers in Wodonga, Wangaratta and Yarrawonga has increased by 130 per cent since 2013 and the organisation, in its 30th year, wants the public to keep up the good work.
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The growth in reporting has assisted police in making arrests for offences including drug trafficking, serious assaults, weapons offences and offences against children.
General manager Cathy Rhodes said a stronger presence on social media and involvement in the recent Channel 7 series Million Dollar Cold Case had boosted the profile of Crime Stoppers.
“Every year there’s an increase in people calling us; an increase in arrests and the amount of reports that we are giving police,” Ms Rhodes said.
“Cold cases is something we hadn’t done in the past and we’re going to continue to work on other cases.
“The interesting thing about us is we don’t care if it’s a tiny bit of information you have; it all goes into the jigsaw and that’s why the results are there.”
Across Victoria in 2016, members of the public contacted Crime Stoppers more than 81,000 times, leading to more than 1500 arrests – the highest in its 30 year-history – and almost 5600 charges being laid.
Ms Rhodes said the relationship between Crime Stoppers and Victoria Police was particularly strong.
“The Dob in a Dealer campaign started in Victoria only and became a national campaign, and we were targeting drug manufacturers and people trafficking drugs,” she said.
“We had enormous feedback and reports on that as well and we want to say thank you to the community.”
