YOUNG people are being urged to help in the fight against crime.
An event - run by Fearless, the Crimestoppers brand for young people - was held at Sudbury’s Delphi Centre on Newton Road, yesterday in a bid to encourage young people to give information about crime anonymously.
Those in attendance included Sudbury’s community wardens, Suffolk police, Suffolk County Council Youth Services, Babergh District Council and staff from Sudbury youth club The Hub.
According to Crimestopper’s eastern regional manager, Ann Scott, the idea is to provide training for people who deal with young people in their everyday jobs, so they are equipped to highlight the choices and consequences relating to crime which they face when growing up.
She said: “For young people there is a real stigma around being called a snitch but we provide the tools and resources to help people explore what being a snitch actually means.
“Often, it is a term used to gag people and to stop them from reporting serious incidents such as cyber-bullying or knife-crime.
“But there comes a tipping point when people realise that it is morally right to say something.”
Youth project manager at Crimestoppers, Kristina Gregory, said the Fearless initiative worked the same as Crimestoppers and provided a way for young people to report crimes anonymously via a website.
“They might think Crimestoppers is too grown up for them and Fearless provides a place where they can report crime,” she added.
Fearless specialises in advising on the types of crimes young people are most likely to witness.
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