The concept of Crime Stoppers originated in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976. Its success exceeded all expectations. By the end of 1986, over 600 crime stoppers organizations had been formed throughout the United States and Internationally. Although each operates independently, all rely on the original formula for success; that is the commitment and cooperation of law enforcement, the media, and the public to solve felony crimes and maintain caller anonymity. Today, there are over 1,200 Crime Stoppers organizations throughout the world.
When a young college student, Michael Carmen, was shot to death during a robbery at an Albuquerque, New Mexico gas station in July 1976, Detective Greg MacAleese had no idea who was responsible for the killing. He conceived the idea of producing a video re-enactment of the homicide, guaranteed anonymity for anyone who was willing to call him with information and put up a reward from his own pocket to encourage someone to provide a lead that would help identify those responsible for the murder of Carmen.
MacAleese received other calls following the reenactment, including one that allowed police to solve the rape of a young woman. Realizing that this type of program might be useful in fighting crime, MacAleese convinced the Albuquerque Police Department to allow a group of citizens to establish the first Crime Stoppers program.
For his efforts Detective MacAleese was named one of the people in the 1970′s who changed the face of the United States and was also named the country’s Police officer of the Year. It’s also interesting to note that since adopting Crime Stoppers Albuquerque’s crime rate has dropped significantly and no longer is ranked in the list of 20 cities with the highest per capita crime rate