POLICE officers are using a classic family board game to highlight how organised crime gangs may be living closer to you than you think. Dani Walker reports on one force's innovative approach to crime-busting.

MANY people, young and old, will remember asking “does he have a brown hair?” or “does she have glasses?” as they battle it out to become the family Guess Who champion.

The board game, which involves asking a series of questions in order to track down one of the game's characters, is being used by Durham Police to tackle organised criminal gangs.

Detectives hope using the game’s concept will make residents take a closer look at their neighbourhoods to sniff out any criminal activity that may be taking place.

The idea is that information, which can be passed on anonymously, will be gathered as evidence and used as part of any subsequent investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Victoria Fuller, of Durham Police, said: “Tackling organised crime gangs is something we are very serious about.

"What we are trying to do is raise awareness that this might be happening next door and people just haven’t realised it.

“It can come in many different forms with different types of people and different types of criminality.”

Drug offences, illegal waste disposal, animal welfare issues, money laundering and thefts of farm machinery are just some of the crimes officers think they can detect using this technique.

The Guess Who-style game, which was created by Sergeants Andrea Arthur and Kay Howarth, was introduced to public at a Police and Communities Together meeting in Bishop Auckland last night (Wednesday, April 2).

Detectives stressed that a person who is wearing a large quantity of jewellery could be equally involved as a grandma or village librarian.

DCI Fuller added: “Why should people enjoy nice cars, private education for their children and expensive things if they have never worked a day in their lives? It is about getting people to be more suspicious.

“If people speak to us, their neighbourhood policing teams or Crimestoppers then we will do something about it.

“We don’t want children growing up thinking it is acceptable to live like this. If people don’t lift the lid and say we are aware of something happening then how are we going to tackle it?

“The game is a little bit of fun, but it is a way to make talking about it a little bit different and get people thinking.”

To speak to Durham Police call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.