International award win recognises the critical crime solving benefits offered by Crime Stoppers SA

Posted on 01/10/2020

Crime Stoppers SA has once again achieved international accolades for its efforts in working with police and 9 News Adelaide to help solve one of South Australia’s cold case murders, winning the Media category (Special Feature) at this year’s Crime Stoppers International Awards.

For more than seven years the shooting murder of Jason De Ieso was stonewalled by a code of silence amongst rival outlaw motorcycle gang members and associates. Crime Stoppers South Australia proved critical in bringing his killers to justice through innovative use of media to encourage people to come forward with information without needing to say who they are or getting involved.

Crime Stoppers worked with SA Police and Channel 9 to record a plea from Mr De Ieso’s family, urging anyone with information about their son’s death to come forward. In addition to being a news segment, the interview also screened as a weekly unsolved crime segment screen on Channel 9 and was widely promoted by Crime Stoppers SA’s social and online channels.

Crime Stoppers also supported having two Major Crime detectives available on standby on the Crime Stoppers national hotline for anyone wanting to specifically talk to an investigator of the case.

The integrated approach proved effective, with 18 contacts received immediately after the segment aired, adding to a total of 32 contacts received during August 2019 by Crime Stoppers in connection with the murder.

Crime Stoppers SA chair, Ms Sharon Hanlon, said the steady stream of information provided by the community and subsequently passed to SA Police helped achieve a major breakthrough when police arrested and charged a number of people over the alleged murder.

“This award once again underlines the very real contribution that Crime Stoppers continues to make to the safety of South Australians, and its ability as an independent not-for-profit organisation to deliver world-leading initiatives despite limited financial resources,” Ms Hanlon said.

“We remain very appreciative of our partners, in particular the team and management at 9 News Adelaide for providing significant airtime to profile unsolved crimes like this murder and use their reach into the community to encourage people to share what they know anonymously,” she said.

“We also value Police Credit Union as our ongoing major partner, particularly with the recent 3-year extension as our major cash partner to ensure we have funds for our operations, rewards program and crime-solving initiatives. We continue to work very closely with SA Police, and Major Crime in particular, to help profile crimes including SA’s unsolved murders in the hope that someone with that potentially critical piece of information understands that it is never too late to come forward and speak up.”

An independent report commissioned by Crime Stoppers Australia has confirmed that the program remains Australia’s most recognised and pre-eminent information reporting service, delivering a return of $11.15 in additional value for every dollar invested. The report also found that 82% of people feel safer knowing the program is in place, and 62% said Crime Stoppers made it more likely they would report information.

About the CSI Awards

The Crime Stoppers International annual awards recognise leading individuals, programs, activities and campaigns from around the world for excellence and for their contribution to the achievement of the Crime Stoppers International vision – to help stop, solve and prevent crime globally.

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