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Crime Stoppers Backgrounder - It all Started 33 Years Ago After a Very Tragic Homicide
The Crime Stoppers program was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976 when Canadian born police detective Greg MacAleese had the misfortune of investigating an armed robbery turned murder. A young gas station attendant – Michael Carmen - only weeks away from marrying his high school sweetheart, was shot at point blank range with a sawed off shotgun. Carmen had apparently been killed for no other reason than to eliminate him as a witness in a robbery of the gas station where he worked.
Frustrated by the lack of leads in this senseless killing, MacAleese knew that someone had to have information that could help solve this case. He felt that there were two main reasons why witnesses were not coming forward with information: fear of retaliation and general apathy.
With these obstacles in mind, MacAleese approached a local cable television company and asked the station to film a re-enactment of the homicide on location. A tip line was set up to receive calls from anyone who wanted to provide information about the murder. Anonymity was guaranteed to each caller to overcome the fear of retaliation and in order to deal with the problem of apathy, a cash reward was offered.
This idea worked! In the 24-hour period following the re-enactment being aired, MacAleese received several calls and two suspects were arrested. In addition, several other important unsolved cases were solved. MacAleese realized that this bond between the media and the police had great potential and he encouraged members of the community to get involved. As a result, several prominent civilians were drafted to govern the program and form a board of directors. This triad of the community, the media and the police has since promoted the formula of cash for information and the guarantee of anonymity to spread like wild-fire and today there are more than 1200 Crime Stoppers programs in some 22 countries around the world.
There are 107 Crime Stoppers programs in Canada, with 38 having roots in Ontario. The first Canadian Crime Stoppers program was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1982 and one year later, this successful program spread to Ontario and Crime Stoppers of Hamilton-Wentworth was born.
Locally, Crime Stoppers of Haldimand Norfolk and Tillsonburg, Inc. was incorporated in January 1988. The program is governed by 18 dedicated citizens and works in conjunction with three detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police as well as over 20 local medias including radio, television and print publications.
For more information on the crime fighting program or to book a guest speaker, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or log onto www.helpsolvecrime.com.