Peter Price was in Wollongong on Thursday to thank the public for their help in solving thousands of crimes over the past 30 years, and said our nation fairs better than many others.

Mr Price grew up in South Africa (where murders are a common occurrence) as well as serving in the country's military, so has seen first hand the differences in crime outside Australia.

Read More: One charged, two at large after police chase at Horsley

"The fact we've got law enforcement with integrity - some places don't - that's an absolutely critical thing," he said.

"There are some countries that have approached Crime Stoppers and said 'will you help us?' But because we can't trust the law enforcement in those countries and there's a distrust by the community in law enforcement, it doesn't really work.

"The crime here is significant for this country but it's not significant compared to other countries and also the type is different."

He said in Australia, police make an average 22 arrests every day, making safer communities.

"We started out in Crime Stoppers in [NSW in] 1989 getting an average of 100 calls a month and now we take close to 10,000 calls a month," Mr Price said.

"A member of the community is contacting us ... in NSW every six minutes."

Read More: Murder charge over Saturday's Albion Park Rail fatal car crash

Wollongong Police District Commander Chris Craner said it's because our community cared enough to call a service like Crime Stoppers it meant they could keep the streets safer.

"It could be anything - it could be a murder, a robbery - but then ... a letterbox being knocked over is no less important than a serious crime," Superintendent Craner said.

"When I previously ran a murder [investigation] up in Sydney the actual murder investigation was on Australia's Most Wanted.

"While that program was airing I ran off to Strawberry Hills where Crime Stoppers was and waited, and at the very end [of the show] ... I watched the all the screens light up and all that information came in about the suspicious death."

Crime Stoppers currently operated in 26 countries and solves a crime every 14 minutes somewhere around the globe.

Each call is anonymous with no name, phone number, or post code taken.