History

In 1976, Detective Greg MacAleese came up with a concept to combat crime. He called the program Crime Stoppers and today it is cited along with fingerprinting and DNA as the top three innovations in modern day policing. The Albuquerque Police Department, which embraced the idea and brought it to fruition, continues to hail Crime Stoppers as the most successful anti-crime program in the history of law enforcement.

For MacAleese, who was born in Canada but spent his high school and college years in the United States, Crime Stoppers was like a roller coaster ride, and the book reveals a story, that until now hasn’t been told. Assigned as an investigator to the Violent Crimes Unit only three years after becoming a police officer, MacAleese was in a hospital emergency room watching the life ebb from a 20-year-old victim who was callously shot during a robbery at a gas station. A short time later he promised the mother of Michael Carmen that he would solve the slaying and it was that vow which became the catalyst to launch Crime Stoppers.

From an idea to curb lawlessness in what at the time was one of the most crime-ridden and dangerous cities in the United States, Crime Stoppers has grown to a worldwide network of more than 1,600 programs. Accumulatively since 1976, Crime Stoppers has solved 1.5 million crimes, seized $10 billion in illicit drugs and recovered more than $2 billion in stolen property. Most people believe Crime Stoppers is run by law enforcement, but this book explains how programs in various cities are charitable organizations with volunteer boards and operate in partnership with the police, the media and the community.

—Excerpt from Crime Stoppers: The Inside Story by Greg MacAleese and Cal Millar