THE Scholastic Crime Stoppers is a confidential reporting program against crime in high schools, and rewards successful tipsters that prevent and solve faculty crimes. The implementation of Scholastic Crime Stoppers program in Fiji in 2005 has assisted in proactive approach that uses students to prevent and solve crimes and constitute one of the best and least expensive crime prevention strategies.
Scholastic Crime Stoppers evolved from the Crime Stoppers program. The program allows students to provide tips about crimes they witness that is committed in their school compound or in any school sponsored event. To lessen fears of retaliation, students can remain anonymous. Similar to the Crime Stoppers program, the student board of directors of a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program is the core of the organisation.
The role of the student board of directors facilitates the advertising and marketing of the program, as well as raising funds through donations. The board also discusses crime information and determines reward, but it never investigates a crime. Furthermore, the identity of informants, victims, and the suspects remains confidential. Informants are referred to only by their assigned code numbers, and board members must respect the anonymity of the persons. Participating students must be of good academic status and remain out of trouble both on and off faculty.
Therefore, with the implementation of Scholastic Crime Stoppers, students are confident of giving information on law breaking events that they witness or that are being yet to be executed by their peers and in solving crimes. By having their identity concealed with the reward promises in place, students who fear revenge, would be able to report cases with a trust that their identity is anonymous. Scholastic Crime Stoppers is a means one can use to bring to light such bad behaviors. Through the awareness, visits and presentations by other units of the force on the types of crime and illegal activities; students who are not aware that such acts are forbidden can easily report such matters and are protected by the Scholastic Crime Stoppers Program.