CrimeStoppers in Bermuda is set to expand this year after recording more than $8 million worth of drug seizures since the operation began six years ago.

Co-ordinators said the crime-busting community agency had now matured and grown to such a level where they were hoping to take it up a notch, increasing its profile and its programmes during the coming months.

Chairman David Carruthers said he was hoping that CrimeStoppers would begin to work more closely with Police when certain neighbourhoods and problems were being targeted by criminals.

He said he saw the organisation as taking an educational role with members of the public, as well as a promotional one.

However, Mr. Carruthers said CrimeStoppers was also about to take its message into the schools in a bid to encourage students to use the hotline, as well as form their own school-based anti-crime groups.

But also on the agenda is a major push for financial support, which the agency hopes will enable it to fund year-round advertising and promotional campaigns.

"We feel we are now at a stage where we have the experience and confidence to expand," said Mr. Carruthers.

"We have spent five or six years getting our programmes in place and the organisation on a very good footing, and we believe it is now time to move up.

"We have been operating on a very low budget and spending money wisely. We didn't want to have a large budget if we didn't have the right programmes in place. We have been extremely careful to make sure that everything was done right."

He said the group had now grown and matured and felt it was now ready to expand both its budget and its programmes.

As a result, in the coming months, organisers will be writing to businesses and groups looking for sponsorship.

Since 1995, CrimeStoppers has received 3,010 calls and led to 135 arrests in Bermuda. Some 142 cases have been cleared due to its involvement, and $1.3 million worth of property recovered.

More than $8 million worth of drugs have been seized, and more than $20,000 of rewards paid out. And last year, although the number of calls received decreased, the quality of calls increased.

Mr. Carruthers said since calls to Bermuda CrimeStopper had been directed through the Miami office early last year, co-ordinators had been better able to sort the quality calls from the prank or low quality calls. Although the number of calls has gone down, the number of arrests and cases cleared has stayed on a par to previous years. In fact, the amount of drugs seized and property recovered doubled from 2000 to 2001.

Most of the calls received by CrimeStoppers are drug-related, but some relate to thefts, robberies and even murders. There have even been anonymous calls from people wishing to report offences of prostitution, immigration and traffic. Mr. Carruthers added: "We are more concerned about the quality of calls, rather than the quantity and we seem to be doing very well on that score.

"For this year to date, we had something like 50 calls, all of which have been meaningful and we have had splendid results. This year we have done particularly well with the identification and recovery of drugs and there have been some big amounts.

"But we are not doing as well as we would like and that is why we want to have this major fundraising and promotional push."

However, although people who call CrimeStoppers with information that lead to a conviction are able to receive a cash reward, few actually take up the offer. He added: "People don't seem interested in the money, they simply want to help fight crime."

Anyone with information about a crime can call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 1-800-623-8477.