Crime Stoppers Bermuda has reiterated its pledge to provide monetary rewards for information that leads to the capture of criminals.

The move comes after a crime wave of a dozen armed robberies and a call from former assistant commissioner and national security minister, Wayne Perinchief, for a substantial reward to be raised to catch the men responsible for the gunpoint raids.

Yesterday, a Crime Stoppers spokesman urged the community to help police to bring to an end the spate of armed robberies.

“Crime Stoppers noted a sharp rise in reported incidents of armed robberies, particularly those involving places of business,” the spokesman said.

“Our aim is to create strong opportunities for law enforcement and the community to effectively put a stop to this spate of crime.

“We want to remind the public that Crime Stoppers Bermuda offers monetary rewards for information that leads to an arrest, firearms or weapons or other evidence seizure, and eventual prosecution of offenders.

“We have the support of the business community in Bermuda whose leaders some time ago created a substantial reward fund, which is earmarked to offer meaningful rewards in the case of gun-related crimes.”

In mid-April The Royal Gazette reported that nine small businesses had been targeted in the space of 15 weeks. Six of the nine incidents since Boxing Day last year saw staff threatened with a knife or firearm; so far there has been one conviction.

Last Friday, Continental Motors on North Shore Road, Pembroke was robbed at gunpoint — it was the third such attack in eight days and followed robberies at the Gem Cellar in Hamilton and Hunt’s in Warwick.

The Crime Stoppers spokesman added: “We also want to assure anyone who uses Crime Stoppers, either via our webtips or through our confidential hotline 800-8477, that anonymity is guaranteed. It is the information that is important, so if you have information it is vital that you provide as many details as possible when submitting or calling in a tip. Crime Stoppers Bermuda appreciates there may be people in the community who have valuable information on the perpetrators of these armed robberies. We appeal to anyone with such information to call or submit a tip as soon as they can. Armed robberies are crimes of violence. Let’s help law enforcement deal with these terrible crimes to ensure no one is hurt, weapons are taken off the street and offenders are brought to justice.”