Wanted posters

Editorial and photography: Jesse Wray-McCann

One place you definitely don't want to see your face is on a Crime Stoppers poster at one of Melbourne's train stations.

If you’ve committed a crime and your photo makes it on to one of the posters, you can almost guarantee it won’t be long until police are knocking on your door.

The displays, found at dozens of locations on the train network, are the product of an 11-year partnership between Crime Stoppers Victoria and Victoria Police’s Transit Divisional Response Unit.

Leading Senior Constable Luke Gandolfo coordinates the program, which has a stunning success rate – more than 80 per cent of the crimes displayed on the posters are solved.

“It’s one of the most successful things I’ve seen in my 32 years at Victoria Police,” Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo said.

And a key part of that success, according to Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo, is the program’s simplicity.

“The posters are just photos of offenders with just one line of text,” he said.

“It might just have, ‘Armed robbery, Belgrave-Lilydale line’ and then images.

“People then phone into Crime Stoppers, an information report is generated and then I pass it through to the relevant investigator.

“It’s not overly complicated, but it works a treat.”

The program has positively identified 1,400 people since its inception.

It’s an achievement Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo said would not be possible without Crime Stoppers Victoria.

“The part Crime Stoppers plays in this, that’s what makes it work,” he said.

“Having them as the central point of contact and their expertise is so crucial, because they are so good at what they do.

“Until this program, I didn’t fully appreciate just how big Crime Stoppers’ reach is.”

Crime Stoppers chief executive Stella Smith and Ldg Sen Const Luke Gandolfo discuss the success of the partnership.

Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo said often the people on the posters themselves were the ones to call Crime Stoppers and hand themselves in.

“We had a teenager one time ring up and say, ‘Can you get that poster down before my nanna sees it’,” Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo said.

Sometimes, the program is so successful that Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo can’t keep up.

“One time, I had driven out to put up posters at all the stations on the Cranbourne- Pakenham line. I put them all up and was driving back to the office when Crime Stoppers rang me,” he said.

Crime Stoppers explained that they had someone on the phone surrendering themselves in relation to a poster that hadn’t even been added to the call centre’s system yet.

“I had to tell Crime Stoppers, ‘You haven’t got the details yet, because I’m not even back in the office’,” Ldg Sen Const Gandolfo said.

“Literally half an hour after I displayed it, this person saw the poster and had surrendered themselves.”

The train station posters are just one of the many ways Victoria Police and Crime Stoppers Victoria’s hand-in-glove partnership works so well.

Since it launched in 1987, Crime Stoppers Victoria has promoted unsolved crimes and persons wanted on warrants to the Victorian public through various channels, while also giving people the opportunity to anonymously report crime activity.

It receives more than 200 tips every day and last year Victoria Police made its 25,000th arrest based on information from Crime Stoppers.

Crime Stoppers Victoria chief executive Stella Smith said the organisation was incredibly proud of its work with Victoria Police.

“At Crime Stoppers, we know that people care about a safer community,” Ms Smith said.

“Our success with the Transit Divisional Response Unit is a clear illustration of the relationship we have with Victoria Police as well as Crime Stoppers’ ability to capture the public’s attention.

The Crime Stoppers posters at train stations are so effective that it is often the offenders who hand themselves in.

“Criminal activity across our public transport network is a continued area of focus, which is highlighted on our dedicated public transport crime page on the Crime Stoppers website.

“CCTV has played an invaluable role in capturing quality images and vision to assist the public to recognise the offenders on these services.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Victoria Police to keep our state safe.”

For more information on Crime Stoppers Victoria, to report crime information and see a list of unsolved crimes and wanted persons, go to crimestoppersvic.com.au or phone 1800 333 000.