Surrey Crimestoppers

18 November.  The DG and I were back in Guildford for an event organised by the Surrey branch of the charity Crimestoppers, which was founded 25 years ago and wants to increase awareness of their unique services through their Ambassadors programme. Crimestoppers is an Independent Charity which supports the work of the police by offering the public an opportunity to give information about crimes already committed, or being planned, with the assurance of anonymity for the informant.

 Being one of the most influential people in Surrey, I was invited along, together with business leaders and several mayors, to a Reception to promote the Ambassadors programme. The meeting was  hosted by  Surrey Police in their headquarters at Mount Browne, a fine 19^th century building situated on top of a hill, giving fine views across Surrey towards the South Downs. The view was lost on us this evening, unfortunately, as we arrived in darkness.

The format of the event was a series of presentations by people connected with the Charity, and a tour of the building, taking in the Surrey Police Museum on the First Floor, and the Police Control Centre. As we arrived I was dazzled by all the gold in the room, as mayors from almost every borough in Surrey were present, wearing their chains of office. The DG had decided not to wear her chain, and I suspect she felt a little underdressed in this august group of dignitaries. Among all the mayors, I spotted a Paul Harris badge in the lapel of the mayor of Banstead and Reigate, Councillor David Pay, which singled him out as a fellow Rotarian. I had a brief chat with him and learnt that he was a member of Redhill Rotary Club in District 1250, with which our District will be merging next year.

The DG meets David Pay

Shortly after arrival I met last year’s High Sheriff of Surrey, Dr Helen Bowcock , who is an enthusiastic supporter of Crimestoppers. I found her very charming, particularly as she fetched me a glass of wine. At last I felt that my high status was being recognised, which hasn’t always been the case in my travels as Consort to the District Governor. After all, how many people can say that a High Sheriff of Surrey has waited on them? Some snacks were brought out on plates, but I always seemed to be at the wrong end of the room and the plates were empty by the time they reached me, although I did manage to grab the last chipolata from a plate before the DG could get to it. So that was my evening meal. I declined a second glass of wine, just in case the police were conducting routine breathalyser tests as we left the building, and I didn’t want to be detained overnight in the kind of dungeons on display in the museum.

                                                          Surrey Police HQ at Mount Browne

We were taken on tours of the Museum in small groups, and ours went off first, with Inspector Rob Harris as our guide (note we were shown round by an Inspector, not a mere constable). He took us up a floor to the Museum, which was an excellent record of the history of the Surrey Constabulary since it was formed over 160 years ago. It showed, through a series of wall-mounted glass panels, each decade of the Force’s history, including old uniforms, a display of Victorian truncheons, and a mock-up of a Victorian police cell. Both the DG and I thought it would be good to come back here when we had more time to browse the exhibits.

                                                   A display of Victorian police truncheons - some are quite ornate

                                                              Tunic of the Chief Constable of Surrey circa 1900

After we had seen the museum, we were taken into the main hub of the Surrey Police operation, the Control Room, and placed under the wing of another officer, whose name I didn’t get, but who I think was responsible for the Control Room. It was quite fascinating, and I felt quite privileged to be in the nerve centre of the police operation. In the centre of the room was a desk which formed a semi-circle, at which one uniformed officer sat, with a number of civilians. This area was called The Bridge, and this desk controlled all the other activities in the room. Elsewhere there were a cluster of desks which were responsible for the North of Surrey (Spelthorne, Runnymede and Elmbridge) another group responsible for the East and so on. There were probably about 40 people in the room, and whenever an incident occurred in Surrey which required police attendance, the situation was controlled from this room. There were Screens around the room showing CCTV camera film of traffic situations and town centres throughout the County. On each desk were high resolution screens where the operator could zoom in on maps of the County, on which could be seen the whereabouts of all their patrol cars, and their progress could be followed along the roads.  It was terrific to see all this in operation, and I felt somewhat reassured about the ability of local Police to respond to emergencies around the County.

                                                                        Rob Harris guides us around the Museum

Apart from two uniformed officers, (one of whom was showing us around) all the rest of the staff in the room were civilians, which I found interesting. There was a murmur of quiet conversation throughout the room as staff communicated with police officers out on the streets, although every now and again, if there was something important, somebody would call out ‘Bridge!’ and all attention would be focussed on that incident. The officer guiding us was proud of the systems they had and the way his team could communicate quickly with other forces around the country, and gain access to their CCTV screens when necessary. Interestingly, when one of our group asked him if there was anything he needed to make the job more effective, he replied without hesitation  ‘More officers’. I decided not to take any photos in the Control room, for fear of having my camera confiscated and being frogmarched unceremoniously out of the building.

                                                                            Some confiscated weapons

With our tours finished, we returned  to the Reception room where we learnt a little more about Surrey Crimestoppers. Our first speaker was my wine waitress Helen Bowcock, who outlined her own involvement as a supporter of the Charity, before handing over to Commander Nick Ephgrave, the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police. He underlined the importance of Crimestoppers and their message to the public, ‘help fight crime without revealing your identity’. He gave a couple of examples of cases where members of the public, using the Crimestoppers service, helped the police deal with a serious drug problem in Peckham, and in a murder enquiry with which he was involved.

                                                       A display cabinet in the Museum

Tim Prideaux, the Chairman of Surrey Crimestoppers then took  over to underline the features of Crimestoppers that make it successful. The key to everything is being able to guarantee the caller’s anonymity, so they don’t record calls, they don’t track calls, and don’t ask for any personal details over the phone. Call handlers are trained to a high level, and pass actionable material to the police. In their 25 years of operation, they have received 1.5 million actionable calls, leading to 130,000 arrests, £130 million of stolen property recovered, and £312 million of drugs being seized.  Remarkably the Charity costs only £30,000 a year to run.

                                                      Advertising poster

Finally we were told about the Ambassador Scheme, by which they wanted us to spread the word about Crimestoppers to our contacts, so that more people would understand what this Independent Charity does. A recent survey has shown that despite nationwide coverage, only 20% of people know what Crimestoppers actually does. Some people think it is part of the Police, which it isn’t, and others confuse it with the TV show Crimewatch. I will be happy to oblige.