Speech is silver but silence is gold is an age-old proverb. But is silence always gold? The following quotation, which is attributed to both Edmund Burke and John Stuart Mill, succinctly answers the question “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. This quotation was followed later by Albert Einstein who said, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing”.
As can be seen, it takes a great deal of courage for people to report the information they may have regarding criminal or inappropriate behaviour. While many people want to provide the information, they are, for many reasons, reluctant to do so.
That said, Oscar Wilde wrote that “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” From a Crime Stoppers WA perspective this quote has stood the test of time and we continue to see an increase in the number of people choosing to use the mask of anonymity to make reports.
Crime Stoppers WA was launched in 1995 as a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity. The rationale was to operate as an independent body from other law enforcement agencies and to provide the protection of anonymity to members of the public. Since then, we believe that Crime Stoppers WA has achieved that objective and has become a highly trusted brand with a recognition rate of 98 percent.
Leveraging the Crime Stoppers experience and expertise, we developed Safe2Say to enhance your organisation’s culture, reputation and employee well-being by providing a safe, external, trusted platform to report misconduct or inappropriate behaviour.
Dr Vince Hughes
CEO, Crime Stoppers WA / Safe2Say