The crime-fighting charity, Crimestoppers, is appealing to young people across London to pass on information about who is carrying knives in their schools by sending a simple text message to a dedicated anonymous hotline.
The charity’s new method of receiving vital crime information, which guarantees the mobile phone user’s anonymity, has been publicised in schools across London from this month.
Michael Laurie CBE, Crimestoppers’ Chief Executive, said 21 young people have already needlessly lost their lives to knife crime in London this year alone: "Communities must do their bit to stop this trend so I am appealing to young people out there to text Crimestoppers with vital information about school children carrying knives that could help save lives in the future.”
Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, founder and Chairman of Crimestoppers, added: “Crimestoppers has come a long way since I established the charity 20 years ago, and so has technology. The huge popularity of texting, especially amongst young people, has given us a valuable opportunity to engage with school students to encourage them to pass on information about knife crime in a quick and easy way whilst maintaining their anonymity.”
The Met’s Operation Blunt has welcomed this initiative from Crimestoppers, Superintendent David Chinchen, said: "This is a very timely development. It is vital that people of all ages should feel confident to report concerns they have regarding people who carry and use knives on our streets. Those who persist in carrying weapons will be caught and can expect to be prosecuted."
The text messages will be routed through special software, developed by mBlox, the world’s largest mobile transaction network, and Anderson Software, applications specialist for law enforcement, to ensure they remain anonymous when passed onto the police.
The charity hopes to extend this service to other regions across the UK where there are a high number of knife crime incidents.
