(Trinidad Express) – Crime Stoppers International launched the Caribbean’s Most Wanted website on Tuesday night.

The launch took place at the Marriott Hotel, Port of Spain, and was attended by Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert, Minister in the Ministry of National Security, Donna Cox, and founder of Crime Stoppers UK, Lord Michael Ashcroft.

The website, which is the first of its kind in the region, allows the police throughout the Caribbean to post photographs of individuals wanted in connection with various crimes in Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda and Latin America.

Ashcroft said he believed the website would tremendously assist with crime fighting in the Caribbean given its success in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

“From the 3,400 fugitives posted on that site (UK), over 700 have so far been arrested and charged (since 2005), and that is over 20 per cent of all the appeals…. Recently an appeal about a UK criminal who we thought was in Spain resulted in a telephone call from France, resulting in him being arrested in Greece. That is the power of the Internet, and we get information from all over the world,” Ashcroft said.

“And the reason why it’s so successful is because it has captured the public’s imagination and given them a part in the fight against crime because it’s easy and they don’t have to go to the police, which is vital if they are close to the criminal and may be at risk. And a very important characteristic of the concept for the region is that it crosses boundaries. It’s so easy for a fugitive from justice to nip across to another country where the police are not looking for him. Well with ’Most Wanted’ there is no hiding place.”

In her address, Cox said since the inauguration of the local arm of Crime Stoppers ten years ago, the Ministry of National Security viewed its relationship with the programme as a necessary and meaningful partnership. She said she saw the new initiative as one which would “add great value to Trinidad and Tobago’s efforts to manage criminal conduct in our society and the Caribbean as a whole” but added that in order for the Police Service to win the war on crime, changes had to be made to the service itself.

Philbert, who spoke with reporters after the launch, said the Police Service was also working on launching its own website.