A cash-for-tips programme that has helped Police in 22 countries around the world could be the answer to Bermuda's crime problems.

Billed as "the most effective law enforcement programme ever created,'' Crime Stoppers is credited with solving nearly half a million crimes and recovering nearly $3 billion in stolen property and illegal drugs since it began in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976.

"I think Bermuda would be ripe for the picking,'' said P.c. John Bates, coordinator of Brant-Brantford Crime Stoppers Inc. in Brantford, Ontario. "I think it would work anywhere.'' Bermuda has been alarmed by a recent rise in violent crime, especially involving guns. Government has started a gun amnesty and promised rewards for information about serious crimes.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said yesterday Government is interested in studying the programme: "We are anxious to co-opt ideas and obviously this is one that will be given serious consideration.'' The programme's proponents say fear of involvement and apathy are the two obstacles that prevent people from coming forward with information about crime. Crime Stoppers uses guaranteed anonymity to overcome the first and rewards to overcome the second.

With help from the local news media, a Crime of the Week is reported in newspapers and on radio and dramatised on television.

Those with information about the Crime of the Week or any other crime are asked to dial a special Crime Stoppers number. They are told not to identify themselves, but are given an individual code number they are told to keep to themselves, P.c. Bates told The Royal Gazette .

If an arrest or seizure results from the tip, Police recommend a reward to a Crime Stoppers board, made up of citizens, which has final approval. Rewards normally range from $50 to $1,000.

Tipsters use their code number to pick up their cash reward at an arranged location, usually the business of someone serving on the Crime Stoppers board.

The rewards themselves and the programme's administrative costs are covered by donations, so that Crime Stoppers is not a drain on taxpayers.

About one quarter of all calls are drug-related, and much of the information comes from criminals turning in their colleagues, P.c. Bates said. "We target them,'' he said. "We're gearing up for another promotional blitz where we go into the local lock-ups and supply them with matchbooks and posters'' featuring the Crime Stoppers number.

"There are a lot of criminals informing on criminals. We can go talk to the Lions Club and the Rotary Club, but those guys are not going to be telling us who has a pound of cocaine in their basement.

"We're going to be targeting those people who actually know.'' The Brantford area Crime Stoppers covers a population of about 120,000.

This year, up to the end of September, it received 730 calls resulting in 137 arrests, 356 cases cleared, and 259 charges laid. In what is a below average year, $285,000 in stolen property and $88,000 in illegal drugs have been seized, P.c. Bates said. About $20,000 in rewards has been authorised by the Crime Stoppers board.

Insp. Roseanda Jones of Bermuda Police Community and Media Relations said introducing Crime Stoppers to Bermuda has been discussed, mainly among the Police rank and file. "We've talked about it at a very low level, as to whether we could get sponsors or full-time staff,'' she said.

"Bearing in mind that Bermuda's community is so small, I think if they knew they could call in and their voices not be recorded, I think they would be more inclined to do it.

"It could be very successfully run, provided there is the manpower to produce the show every week.'' In the House of Assembly on Wednesday, United Bermuda Party MP Mrs. Grace Bell said many Bermudians fear their calls to the Police Code-a-Phone do not receive the promised anonymity.

Insp. Jones said it is "unfortunate'' if people feel that way, since it is a separate line and the origin of calls cannot be traced. "We don't know who they are, and we have no way of finding out who they are,'' she said.

A Crime Stoppers line might be more trusted, since "I think people tend to believe that the 295-1140 (Code-a-Phone number) is a Police line.''