How to contact the police anonymously

BoyJohn811

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had ideas on how to contact the police (in my case West Midlands) anonymously to report something. For obvious reasons, I do not want to call, they do not appear to have a general reporting email addresses, and their website (where they have a chat service and a reporting form) does not work via TOR browser and/or VPN (to hide my IP). I find it disturbing that one cannot easily contact the police anonymously. Before I would even start to report anything, they want my name, birthdate and home address, without even knowing what I want to report. I found one way through a charity (Crimestoppers). Is this the only option? Thank you very much.

Emmia

I think if you want to report something anonymously, then crimestoppers is the best option. 

What's your aversion to using that route?

daveyjp

Crimestoppers exists to enable anonymous reporting of crime.

user1977

Write to them? Phone from a number not traceable to you? Walk into a station but don't tell them who you are? 

Manxman_in_exile

Yeah.  Why not just write to them?  Isn't that the most obvious thing to do as it doesn't involve any unnecessary contact with third parties like Crimestoppers?

Unless the reason you want to do it anonymously is because you are already known to the police.  In which case make sure you use gloves (no fingerprints), cut the words out of a newspaper or magazine (handwriting) and remember not to lick the envelope (no DNA).  And don't use monogrammed stationey...

BoyJohn811

Thank you guys, it seems Crimestoppers is the easiest way then.

sheramber

My husband made a report to Crimestoppers and they called him back and asked him to approach the person he had reported.

Car_54

OP, how serious is the offence you're reporting?

It's common knowledge that the police have to prioritise the use of their scarce resources, and often take no action over  crimes like burglary and car crime, even where they have full details of the victims and witnesses. Unless it's very serious, it's unlikely they'll do much about an anonymous report.

Manxman_in_exile

sheramber said:

My husband made a report to Crimestoppers and they called him back and asked him to approach the person he had reported.

So if you make an "anonymous" report to Crimestoppers, do you have to give them contact details?

B0bbyEwing

Manxman_in_exile said:

sheramber said:

My husband made a report to Crimestoppers and they called him back and asked him to approach the person he had reported.

So if you make an "anonymous" report to Crimestoppers, do you have to give them contact details?

Unless you withhold your number when calling, will it not show up on their caller display? 

And even if you do withhold, does the police system bypass this? 

I don't know. I'm asking not implying. 

Also maybe OP wants to report the police but doesn't trust the police not to tell the accused who reported them. 

I no longer trust the police either after they gave my phone number to a local nutjob (who not long after got jailed for attempted murder) when I specifically told them not to & it should've gone down the insurance route anyway. 
Then when you complain, they pull together, ignore your complaint and in a roundabout way threaten to do you anyway if you go ahead with the complaint. 

So that's the police for me now. Not trusted. 

onashoestring

We guarantee:

• You will not be asked to reveal your name or any personal details.
• We will listen to any information you have on a crime.
• Your call will not be recorded.
• We have no caller line display, no 1471 facility and have never traced a call.
• Calls are free from all phones, landline or mobile, and will not show up on your bill.
• Our specially trained call agents will support you through the process and make sure your report contains no information that could identify you.
• We do not make a note of gender, accents, apparent age or ethnicity of any caller.
• Even if you give personal details, they will not be recorded, and we will pass information to the relevant authority without revealing your identity.
• When you report via our online form, you can do so safe in the knowledge that your device’s IP addresses are overwritten, masked and can never be traced.

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/what-exactly-do-we-mean-by-anonymity

Dumped vehicles, untaxed vehicles and minor driving offences  can’t be reported to crimestoppers.

Reports must be made directly to the police, as they need sworn witness testimony to pursue driving offences including:    
• speeding    
• driving whilst on the phone    
• not wearing a seatbelt