Independent charity, Crimestoppers is well known across the country for taking anonymous crime-related information and is working in partnership with imabi, which provides the technology for British Transport Police's Railway Guardian App.
imabi was founded by Mark Balaam, who is an expert in safeguarding and security in a bid to create real-time actionable support for those using the app, encouraging people to report crimes whilst providing support materials and services in a single place.
Since partnering with imabi, Crimestoppers has seen an increase in reports and aims to further improve access and awareness of this unique reporting facility.
From April 2022 to March 2023, approximately 600,000 people used Crimestoppers to pass on information, which equates to around 1,600 reports per day. As part of the charity's Annual Report figures were revealed, and showed, the arrest and charge of over 1,300 people alongside 26,000 positive outcomes coming from the anonymous reports made.
The impressive and seamless integration created by imabi provides users with the ability to report a crime without speaking directly to the police/law enforcement by quickly linking the Crimestoppers website with an option to complete an anonymous online form. The link provided to Crimestoppers reporting page is within imabi's platform app so users will not have to switch to a separate browser, which supports Crimestoppers' ability to provide anonymity with no record left in the browser history.
Users of imabi are guaranteed the same level of anonymity as those using Crimestoppers and can select the ‘quick exit' icon should the situation arise where they need to speedily leave the website.
imabi has also seen a second major milestone this month for its impressive technology used in British Transport Police's “Speak Up, Interrupt” campaign, as well as the ‘Railway Guardian' app and has been recognised with the ‘Making Spaces Safer' award given by the National Police Chief's Council and College of Policing.
The “Speak Up, Interrupt” campaign encourages passengers (especially men) to be vigilant bystanders, reporting incidents of sexual harassment using the ‘Railway Guardian' app which also houses the ability to report crimes by text 61016 (See it, Say it, Sorted) whilst providing safeguarding news, guides, support and geolocation safety tools.
Mark Balaam, CEO of imabi, said:
“When we first designed the imabi platform, we were always motivated by the concept that ‘everyone has the right to feel safe'. Being able to integrate Crimestoppers anonymously into our platform has allowed us to take a big step towards this ambition. This function can be effective in a range of differing circumstances, but the overarching key ingredient here is anonymity. Accessing the Crimestoppers online reporting platform through imabi eliminates the need for external browsers and allows users to swiftly exit, which could empower someone to report a crime they may not have done otherwise.”
“We have already witnessed first-hand the impact reporting through the app can have in keeping the public safe. This new partnership with the charity Crimestoppers is a real meeting of minds and we look forward to seeing the impact it has within our platform.”
Ruth McNee, Head of Business Growth and Fundraising at the charity Crimestoppers, said:
“We're delighted to be working in partnership with imabi as we both share the aim of keeping people and communities safe. By integrating fast access to our charity's unique crime reporting service across imabi's respected platform, we hope that more people than ever will speak up with information that helps to stop crime.”
Sarah White, Detective Superintendent at the British Transport Police, added: “Railway Guardian is the first police safety app, serving as a one stop shop for safer travel. What imabi has helped us do, as the technology behind the Railway Guardian app, is empower people to take action and report incidents to BTP. Integrating other leading services like Crimestoppers within the platform is a great opportunity to further contribute towards a safer society for all and we look forward to offering our users access to this invaluable service.”
To find out more about imabi please click here.
To find out more about Crimestoppers, please click here.
