A POLICE campaign to place Crime Stoppers display boards and posters at railway stations across the western suburbs is reaping rewards, with numerous offences resolved in recent months.

Display boards featuring photos of offenders and information on their crimes have been installed at stations along 10 rail lines in Melbourne, including Sydenham, Craigieburn and Werribee.

In recent months there have been six serious offences resolved on the Werribee line, six on the Craigieburn line and eight on the Sydenham line.

Inspector Philip Green said releasing CCTV footage to the public had helped solve crimes in recent years, but the "old-school" approach of display boards featuring posters of wanted offenders worked equally well.

Between January 2008 and December 31, 2009, 72 of the 98 crimes and misdemeanours displayed on posters across Melbourne have been resolved as a result of public information provided to police via Crime Stoppers. Inspector Green said that amounted to an 81per cent success rate, with 123 offenders processed in the 12-month period.

"The display boards are used to highlight a range of criminal acts including graffiti, property damage, assaults, armed robbery and sexual offences.

"We also display a lot of unreported crimes on the boards. Police go through the CCTV footage to identify incidents that we can ask the public for assistance on".

Inspector Green said improvements in technology meant the quality of images captured by cameras was improving and those caught committing offences were often more easily identified and prosecuted. Recent examples of crimes solved using the posters include a display on the Craigieburn line in early December where the offender was identified while the poster was being put up. Two days after police released photos on the Sydenham line of a serious assault and robbery at Sunshine railway station, two men were arrested and charged.

Inspector Green said: "The message is clear: if you want to commit an offence on public transport be prepared to find yourself on a poster or on the nightly news."

Information to Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.